Fairy Tail's Ice fox
by MistahWompah
Summary: Namikaze Naruto: Apprentice of Jin Kisaragi, Son of an infamous dark mage and the only survivor of a fallen village. Naruto is stuck in the shadows of the figures of his dark past. Naruto will gain recognition as his own person and face his own demons. Strictly Naruto/Mira No harem Minor Blazblue & Rurouni Kenshin elements.
1. Chapter 1

The forest was beautiful: lush greens were everywhere; trees were living together in a beautiful, natural, community and the sound of the wildlife was like an intricate composition of music. The calm, warm and inviting atmosphere faded deeper into the forest. The greens started darkening. The lines of trees became thinner. All wildlife started to fade. And in the centre in the forest, only one thing was there. Chaos.

The natural sculpture that was the earth was painted red. Dead, uniformed bodies sprawled along the ground staring expressionlessly at nothing in particular. Rain started falling, diluting the blood and in the middle of the scene stood a boy, no older than 5 years old, holding a sword in his hand loosely, eyes deader than the corpses littered over the ground. His spiky blonde locks were dyed crimson with blood. He had three peculiar whisker marks on each cheek and ocean blue eyes. and he was wearing an orange t-shirt that was slightly big for his small body and black shorts.

He stumbled out of the clearing clumsily, slipping in the blood covering his bare feet. He dropped the sword in his hands and clutched his head in pain, grabbing on the the trunk of a tree almost drunkenly. Dark thoughts tortured his young mind constantly. 'am I a monster? They were right. I'm a murderer, just like my dad.' He didn't stay on that train of thought to long because darkness claimed him. 

The boy opened his eyes groggily. The first thing he noticed is that it was cold. Very, very cold. The second thing he noticed is that he hurt all over. Sitting up took massive amounts of effort he thought 'where am I?'. He thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice beside him. The room was bare: there were 4 walls, no furniture other than a lone desk and there was no decoration anywhere. The room was painted a pale blue. He looked down to his form and realised he wasn't wearing a t-shirt and had bandages wrapped around his stomach. "So you're awake, child?" The child whipped his head to the side rather quickly without thinking and a sharp pain rung throughout his body. He clutched his neck tightly. And looked up to the man whose voice he had heard.

He had green eyes and a narrow jaw line. His long hair was a dull blonde, no doubt so dull because of his age. It reached the back of his neck and he had two jaw length bangs framing his face. He had an irritating smirk on his face, probably amused by his misfortune. It made Naruto want to punch him. 'He kinda looks like tou-san' the child mused distractedely.

"Y-yes, I am." The kid replied shakily, he was startled by the man's presence. He could usually feel when people were around him, like a sixth sense, but this man was like a ghost. Regaining his composure, he continued, "I'm sorry old man, but could you tell me where we are?"

"My home," The stranger said quickly. His eyebrow was twitching to the jab to his age. This boy clearly needed to learn some manners. "Can you tell me your name, child? My name is Jin Kisaragi."

The child blinked and apologised. "Sorry Kisaragi-san" remembering his manners. His mother would give his head a bop if she had heard him now. 'but she can't, now' the boy thought as his eyes dimmed as he remembered the situation he was in. His eyes were full of pain and loneliness. The blue cerulean was now a dull blue. "My name is Naruto Namikaze," The child muttered. Jin found his eyes widening. 'Namikaze!?" he thought in disbelief. He didn't have long to ponder this thought as Naruto spoke up.

"I'm guessing you healed me old ma- Kisaragi-san" he said, correcting himself quickly at Jin's glacial glare. At Jin's nod he replied with a quick thanks.

"Child," Jin said after a moment of silence. When he saw he had Naruto's attention he continued. "Are you related to Minato Namikaze?" Jin said. 'there's no mistaking it, he looks just like him' Jin thought inwardly.

"You knew my dad?"

"I have only met him a few times, but he is quite infamous. SS-rank dark mages are not exactly common," Jin said stoically.

"He wasn't a mage, he was a ninja," Naruto said, slightly annoyed. Mind flashing back to all the times he had asked him about his job. Jin gave no acknowledgement of Naruto's proclamation, not wanting to continue the branch of conversation.

"Why are you speaking about him in the past tense?" Jin asked. At this question, Naruto's eyes started to water. He was struggling to get out the words. "He- he-," Naruto's voice started wavering and his throat closed up. Tears began to run down his face. "He died" he breathed out weakly, turning his head away to hide his tears.

"I'm sorry," Jin said softly, hard exterior cracking momentarily, he put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Could you tell me what happened?" Jin said. He quickly added "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"O-okay old man. I'll tell you since you saved me and stuff…"

Flashback on

_"Naruto-chan, it time to go to bed" Said a beautiful red haired lady. She had creamy pale skin, violet eyes and was quite short. She was Kushina Namikaze, Naruto's mother._

_"But Kaa-chan! I want to see tou-san-ttebayo!" Naruto whined and pouted adorably. Kushina nearly melted at the sight, but she miraculously held herself together at the sight of her son's adorableness._

_"You can see him tomorrow, baby. Go to bed for now," Naruto was till pouting but relented._

_"Fine," he mumbled as he snuggled into his mothers embrace when she scooped him up into her arms. Naruto loved being with his mother, her presence was always so soothing, calm and loving. As Naruto was being carried up the stairs to his room, he suddenly stiffened. Eyes wide he gasped for air and clutched on to his mother tightly. _

_Kushina looked over her son with concerned eyes. "What's wrong, Naru-chan?" Naruto didn't reply, instead he started shaking uncontrollably. "Can you feel that Kaa-chan? Help," Kushina panicked "Help? What's wrong Naru-chan…" Kushina trailed off as she felt it. The aura of death. Killing intent washed throughout her body and the sound of a mighty roar flooded her ears._

_"No." Kushina said. "No!" This feeling was that of a demon. A very powerful demon with only bad intentions. Suddenly a massive earthquake rumbled the area as the sound of an explosion ran through the area. The feeling of malevolent energy was everywhere. It was completely inescapable. Kushina rushed to the door, leaving Naruto on the stairs. She peaked out of the door and saw a quarter of the villiage levelled. The part what was levelled was where most of the people who were able o fight against the demon were. They were all dead. Kushina's violet orbs steeled in determination. 'I'll fight it' she thought. "Naruto-chan," she said, catching his attention. "Stay here."_

_As Naruto nodded, she jumped off to face the demon. It was an insanely large fox with 9 tails swishing about recklessly, destroying everything in its path. "Minato-kun. Come home quickly," She muttered underneath her breath._

_Flashback off_

"You don't have to go any further, child," Jin said, knowing that telling this story was hard for him. Seeing tears rolling down his face, he decided to get to the thing he really wanted to talk about. "So what were you doing alone in the forest with dead bodies every where. He had a vague idea of what happened.

"After the attack, I left the village wandering aimlessly, after burying most of the people, looking for a purpose," Naruto was saying before Jin interrupted them.

"You buried them? All by yourself?" Jin asked, surprised. Naruto nodded.

"Although they may have treated me pretty badly when I was there," He spoke slowly, making Jin raise an eyebrow. Why would they treat a child badly? "They deserved that much. Everybody… is no different when they're dead" This made Jin's eyes widen. 'This child is interesting' Jin thought.

"Why did they treat you badly?" Jin asked.

"Because they hated my Dad because he was a ninja. They thought he was a murderer," As Jin nodded, Naruto continued with his story.

"Anyway, I wandered into a forest and some weird looking guys tried to take me saying that I am going to help bring back some old dude called Zeref,"

"Are you sure they said Zeref" Jin asked sternly.

"Yeah, do you know who that is, old man?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yes." Jin said. Naruto waited for him to elaborate but Jin did not say anything else. Naruto pouted but relented, knowing that if he didn't go into further details that time he probably had no intention of doing so in the first place, just like his father did all the time.

"I didn't want that, so I used a sword I took to protect myself and I snapped. I… killed them all." Naruto said lifelessly, only just realising what he had done.

"I'm a murderer," he gasped out, clutching his head tightly. His hair was weaved messily through his fingers as he started hyperventilating slightly.

"No," Jin said coldly. "You did what you had to do," Inwardly he was thinking 'to kill 5 adults with a blade at his age. That's a lot of talent'

Naruto, not wanting to look weak in front of this man just nodded weakly. But his face held a complative expression. Jin could tell he was pondering his words.

"What are you planning to do, now, child?" Jin inquired.

"I don't know, maybe I can find a village nearby." Naruto suggested unsurely.

"I can take you to the nearest village if that's what you want." Jin offrered. "However, I do have an alternative suggestion."

"Really, old man? What is it?" Naruto asked piping up.

"I'll take you on as an apprentice. I'll teach you magic and swordsmanship. I want to pass on my teachings before I die,"

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"I use ice make magic," Jin replied forming an ice sword in his hand. Naruto looked on in awe at the sword. When Jin formed the sword Naruto got a feeling of jin's power momentarily with his sensory abilities.

"Your presence is so powerful. How do you hide it so well!?" Naruto asked, raising his voice silently?

"My presence?" Jin asked.

"Yeah, I have been able to sense people for as long as I can remember. I couldn't sense you when I woke up that's why I was so startled."

'A sensor' Jin mused, interested.

"I was suppressing my magic," Jin said simply. Naruto nodded, mouth forming an 'O' shape.

"I would be honoured," Naruto said, not really knowing what to say.

"Then call me Shishou from now on," Jin said walking out the room, small smile on his face.

'This is going to be fun.' Jin thought as he closed his eyes. A smirk crossed his effeminate features. 'For me' he added as an afterthought.


	2. Chapter 2

It has been three years since Jin took Naruto on as his apprentice. The training was extremely harsh and unforgiving, bordering on torture. However, Naruto loved it really, no matter how much he complained. Jin knew Naruto's limits and pushed him to them daily, going slightly further and further every time. Naruto cursed his durable body. 'It was supposed to be a blessing' his subconscious cried. Doing squats in a freezing cold river, wearing nothing but boxers. Sprinting on ice in nothing but shorts (Naruto took a minutes silence to mourn for his knee caps and wrists). Doing push ups on the snow with ice shovelled down his top. Jin was a taskmaster alright. During every minute of it Naruto was convinced that he wasn't doing this to make him strong; he was doing it to torture him. His theory was not disproved by the _stupid_ smirk he caught on Jin's face every so often when he was 'supervising' his training. 'More like laughing his ass off inside to his adorable student's suffering' Naruto growled in his mind.

Naruto had grown a bit over the past three years. He no longer wore his civilian child clothing. He wore a blue jacket, although most of the time he didn't really wear it properly, he had it slung over his shoulders, leaving the sleeves empty kind of like a cape. This exposed the sleeveless vest he wore underneath. On his legs he wore gray pants with the shins tucked into sandals (Think Sasuke's sandals in shippuden). He was still short for his age very much so. His height was a sensitive subject for him.

Naruto had started his sword training a year ago. He wanted to start sooner, for no other reason than having a sword made him feel safe. It was strange, but Jin accepted it, knowing that Naruto did have a lot of emotional damage that he honesty didn't know how to deal with. Jin made him improve his physical condition, which was already quite good, to be fair. Naruto's build was Naturally accustomed to the sword style. He didn't have a lot of upper body strength; it would never be anything more than slightly above average with a lot of work, but his legs were extremely strong and he was fast. Very fast. Jin decided to teach Naruto hand to hand combat, the basics of meditation and emotional control. He also taught him some magic Naruto was quite talented in the area. He had a lot of magic but his control was not too great, he wasted a lot of his magic. His control was now average but he still had a lot of time to improve and the fact he was working on his control at a young age would eliminate problems in the future. It was a lot of work but it saved even more years down the line.

However, Naruto's talent in magic was heavily overshadowed by his talent with a sword. He was a damn sponge. Jin had to keep his jaw off the ground at how fast Naruto picked things up. Naruto's footwork was clean and precise. It was not perfect, but that was due to lack of more experience. Naruto grudgingly admitted that his skill in footwork was due to Jin's… unorthodox training methods. Seriously, lobbing balls of ice at him at high speeds whilst only allowed to dodge with footwork? Overly dangerous obstacle courses? Teaching him how to _ballroom dance _(He was _never _going to dance again dattebayo!)? Naruto found himself questioning his shishou's sanity on more than one occasion and his own for just accepting these tasks with minimal protest.

Naruto's swordsmanship was very refined. He hadn't learned much other than the fundamentals, but with them so firmly rooted in his head now, learning the more advanced techniques would come naturally. His basic strikes were clean and very precise. Since he worked non-stop on fully mastering the fundamentals, Jin got Naruto a sword. It was a wakizashi. It was a fairly basic blade anbout a foot and a half long with a dark purple sheath and a circular guard. Its hilt was a matching colour. Naruto would always treasure it as his first sword. He was going to get a katana in the future, he just got a wakizashi to fit his rather short height. He also learned the basic battojutsu and could use them to impressive effect. He couldn't use battojutsu like his shishou could yet, but that came with the more advanced forms of the style. His shishou was crazily good; He could use battoujutsu from a neutral stance at almost god-like speeds and manage to re-sheath the blade in a flash.

Naruto did briefly go into a stage where he found himself stripping at random times. This bad habit was stamped out, quite literally, by Jin very quickly. Everytime he stripped, Jin offered him a 'friendly' spar. The spars were anything but friendly. Naruto knew this before he found himself agreeing to them but he couldn't bring himself to refuse the spar. The glint in his elderly shishou's eyes told him that he really had no choice in the matter. Screw morals and potential child abuse charges, no apprentice of Jin Kisaragi was going to be a stripper. He had his pride, damn it!

Naruto and Jin's relationship was a strange one. Jin was quite cold and didn't show much affection but Naruto knew he cared about him. Jin saw Naruto as a grandson he never had, although it would take a lot for him to admit. He never called Naruto anything other than 'child' or 'brat', much to said boy's annoyance. Naruto referred to him as 'shishou' and 'old man' on occasion. No matter all the emotional control he learned and etiquette he learned, he was still Naruto and nothing could hold back his cheeky attitude and his habit to give people nicknames. Jin acted like it irritated him, but knew it was a term of endearment and secretly loved his student's cheery and slightly eccentric attitude. It wasn't really a problem since Naruto knew there was a time and place for all of that and when the time came, he could be deathly serious.

Naruto sometimes ventured out of the mountains and into the nearby village. It was a small, secluded and serene village. There were not many children there, much to Naruto's disappointment. Naruto did run errands for Jin all the time though so he knew a majority of the people there. Naruto did make a friend there, though. His first ever friend: Itachi Uchiha. The boy was a few years older than him, so Naruto found himself affectionately calling him "onii-san" much to Itachi's secret pleasure. Itachi was really stoic and apathetic. This annoyed Naruto; why was everybody close to him so damn hard to read? Itachi was learning how to be a mage. He was a prodigy, his skill in illusion magic and fire magic was amazing. Itachi taught him a few things like how to break illusion magic, but he didn't really have a lot of tome for him because his father was extremely strict with him.

Itachi's parents were pushy. Itachi really didn't want to go so far in his ninja training but his father forced him using Itachi's love for his baby brother, Sasuke, to get him to do what he wanted to do. It was cruel and it only made Naruto dislike Itachi's parents more than he already did. His father, Fugaku was a very power hungry man. He was a descendant of an old magical clan with special eyes: the Sharingan. They allowed the user to read their opponents movements, See magic and cast illusions people by looking into their eyes. (Yes, I'm getting rid of the copying ability here. That's too much). He felt the need to restore his clan as the strongest. He would do anything and sacrifice anybody to accomplish his dreams.

Itachi's mother was a nice woman but she was an insult to women eyerywhere. She was incredibly submissive and ultimately was completely loyal to Fugaku. It was quite pathetic, actually.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by his shishou's voice.

"Child!" He called neutrally, face annoyingly impassive. Jin watched the boy make his way over to him silently, eyes wandering over his small form. He was proud of the boy. He complained occasionally, but he always did whatever Jin asked without question. He had faith in Jin's methods and trusted Jin to lead him along the right path. Jin vowed to himself that he would not break that trust.

The elder blonde felt guilty about being so harsh on the kid. If it was an ideal situation, the training would not be so harsh. They'd have more time to bond. He'd show how much he truly cared for the boy.

But this wasn't an ideal situation.

Jin had 4 years to live at most. His body was slowly killing itself. He didn't want to the boy to miss him too much. He wanted him to grow up and live a happy life. For such a cheerful person, he didn't really smile much; it was strange. How could somebody be cheerful without smiling? Maybe it was his tone of voice. Maybe it was his warm presence. Maybe it was his easygoing personality. Jin didn't really know, but he was thankful for it.

"Yes, shishou?" Naruto asked curiously, blue pools open with innocence.

"You're ready for the next stage of this magic," Jin said. Naruto raised a single eyebrow at this. 'next stage?' he thought curiously.

"You're probably thinking 'there's a next stage to ice make'? And the answer to the question is no," Jin continued in a lecturing tone. Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion. Was his master finally going senile?

"The next stage is a different kind of magic, an alternate ice make s to speak. I call it arctic atmosphere," Jin said with a smirk. Naruto was about to speak, but he was interrupted by Jin.

"''Oh and what is this?' you're probably thinking," Naruto sweatdropped. "Well, it is the ability to freeze the water in the atmosphere. The advantage it has over ice-make is that you can continue fighting hand to hand whilst casing magic spells. It's great for trapping people with, too." Naruto's eyes widened. That sounded awesome as hell.

"That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed. Jin felt an overwhelming sense of smugness. He had to give a cocky smirk.

"Well it has to be, I made it, of course," Jin said, face not losing any of its inflated sense of pride.

"That explains why nobody uses it," Naruto said. Jin was feeling extremely proud right now. "It must be some sort of ancient magic if you created it, old man," Naruto exclaimed in a childish voice. He was inwardly smirking at Jin's arrogant nod. Jain paused and processed what Naruto said. He turned a sharp glare to the younger blonde and snarled.

"Brat!" Jin snapped, looking like a lion. Naruto ran away laughing whilst Jin was chasing him with like a wolf catching his prey. Jin's angry expression formed into a fond smile as he froze the ground in front of Naruto and caused him to slip over. He picked the boy up in a headlock and gave him a solid noogie. Naruto gasped in-between short laughs

"St-stop it old man!" Naruto breathed out. Squirming in Jin's grasp.

"As you wish," he said whilst dropping Naruto like a sack of potatoes.

Jin was trying to fight off the smile on his face as he looked away. 'That was a mistake.' He thought sadly. No matter how distant he tried to be with the kid there were always slip ups here and there. If there was one thing that should be known about Namikaze Naruto, it was that he always found a way into people's hearts.

"Enough of that," Jin said. "I'll explain the weaknesses of this magic."

"Weaknesses?" Naruto had a look of thought on his face. Jin gave him a minute to try and figure them out himself.

"Yes, there are waknessess. Firstly, you only have a 'field' where you can create the ice and ultimately, dictate its actions such as speed, direction etc. This 'field' can be increased with training. The second weakness is that, the further away the ice construct is created by the user, the weaker it'll be. As always, this effect can be minimalised with training. Lastly, if there is little water vapour in the atmosphere, the ice would be weaker or even worse, impossible to create."

Naruto nodded in understanding. This made a lot of sense. "So.. when are we starting?" Naruto asked with a grin. Jin couldn't help but smirk.

"Right now you stupid brat!"


	3. Chapter 3

Jin and Naruto stood in a snowy clearing standing face to face and sword's distance. Naruto was now 10 years old and he hadn't really changed at all, just got a little taller. In his left hand was his wakizashi, and his right hand was hovering over the hilt. Jin was mirroring his stance with a katana that was a standard size, had a blue sheath and a green hilt. Its guard was silver and had two nub-like 'prongs' facing and upward 45 degree angle. Jin created a hail stone from the water in the atmosphere and waited until it hit the ground. The fighters did not take their eyes off each other. The ice-stone hit the ground and the two shot into motion.

A high pitched clanging sound vibrated through the air as the two drew their swords at the the same town. In a blink of an eye the two's swords were sheathed again. Jin stepped back, taking advantage of the difference in the size of the respective weapons. Naruto stepped in seemingly recklessly giving Jin a free strike at him. Jin took this opportunity and went to slash at the boy but his opportunity was a fake out. His sword strike was slowed down by an ice sword forming in the air. Naruto took this advantage and got to the side of Jin and went to strike him with a vicious Battoujutsu strike. Jin was prepared for this. He guarded the strike with his sword's sheath.

'You've grown, Naruto,' Jin thought proudly as he watched him scurry away from his position with a series of overlapping steps. Jin poked at Naruto with his now re-sheathed sword to keep the distance. Jin eyes glowed a malicious green as he returned to his neutral stance. An ethereal wolf formed behind him, glowing eyes looking over Naruto's form as if he were mere trash. Naruto's actions mirrored Jin's. His eyes glowed a luminous red as an ethereal fox towered over him, tail wrapping around his body protectively.

These really didn't do anything, they were just manifestations of each other's swordsman spirits. They were nothing really more than intimidation techniques that occur naturally when an accomplished swordsman uses killing intent.

"Getting serious, shishou?" Naruto said in an uncharacteristically cold voice.

"No," he replied. "I'll get serious when I use magic. You need to earn my seriousness, child."

"I see," Naruto replied simply. His legs bent a bit as he shot off in a blur. Jin saw Naruto's legs bend so he was prepared for speed. He drew his sword quickly to defend a strike, the rebounding force send both of their top halves bouncing backwards shortly. Jin recovered first and kept his sword unsheathed his sword flashed diagonally downwards as he swung at Naruto. The young blonde didn't have the time to block with his sword so he let his shishou's blade collide against his sheath sending a dull pain through his forearm. Naruto clashed his sword against his shishou's again when the man took advantage of his pain. He was using one hand for the strike so he crossed the sheath behind the blade the push against Jin, who was exploiting his superior upper body strength. They pulled apart and clashed a countless more times, bodies becoming blurs of rapid movement, followed by a cycle of abrupt pauses. Clanging noises rang through the air repeatedly as the two pivoted, parried and pounded their blades together relentlessly.

Naruto re-sheathed his blade and immediately drew again, unleashing a horizontal arc with his blade. Ice swords formed in the after-image of the blade and forced Jin to step back slightly and defend against the magic swords. As soon as Jin slashed through all of them with practiced ease a magic seal formed underneath his feet. Expecting to be captured in ice, he stepped back quickly but was surprised when he found himself shooting up into the air. He heard Naruto mutter "Arctic ice: Flying ice swords and looked upto see Some ice swords flying towards his position in a circle. He was still moving upwards so he had no time to dodge without magic. He smiled slightly. 'To force me to use magic at your age, Naruto… you really are something special.' A slab of ice formed underneath his feet as he said the name of his attack. "Ice car," Jin spoke clearly, not shouting and not whispering. He repeated the same move, plummeting downward to the ground unleashing a battoujutsu from a battoujutsu stance instead of the neutral stance. Naruto saw this coming and attempted to block the attack, his plan for an attack on a falling Jin interrupted. He managed to guard himself but it was futile. The sheer force of the attack knocked him to the ground and severely weakened his legs and arms. His sword was sent flying over the floor, and eventually rested in the snowy ground. He rolled backwards and pushed himself to his feet hastily and off balance.

Jin didn't want to kill the kid so he sheathed his sword and tucked it into the belt of the gi he was wearing. He engaged him in hand to hand, causing the boy to sloppily dodge all the punches, but he couldn't evade Jin for long as he found the hilt of the sword buried in his stomach. The sword was no longer in Jin's belt. He looked up to see the imposing figure of Jin holding his sword, eyes still glowing.

Naruto found himself slightly intimidated by this picture. The horrible, suffocating and vicious killing intent hadn't subsided; Jin's glare seemed to be judging him like some sort of deity deciding his fate; and Jin's form was a tower. Naruto found himself having flashbacks to the kyuubi's attack.

_**Flashback**_

_Everything was ruined, broken and dead. Wisps of fire Suffocated the village, which closer resembled the tales passed through generations about hell, than the Garden of Eden the village was usually portrayed to be. There were a few magic signatures around, not many, they were all weak. The whole town was reduced to rubble except for the Namikaze's house. Naruto didn't know why his house was still standing, but he was thankful._

_Unknown to Naruto, the house had survived because Kushina had used a high power barrier rune set up with the last of her strength after retreating from the Kyuubi's form earlier._

_Naruto felt a few signatures fade into nothingness. He realised what was happening, more people were dying. He could only sit idly by while everybody was losing their lives. Naruto clutched his head in pain, unable to deal with the stress of losing everybody. Something in Naruto snapped his face turned completely impassive as he stood up slowly. His eyes glowed red as he walked emotionlessly to the door._

_He eyed the dead form of his mother apathetically. He stared for a good five minutes; the demon turned away, not acknowledging his pathetic existence. Finally the demon turned to him with __**those**__ eyes, like he wasn't worth anything. This snapped him out of his daze. Tears ran out of his eyes. He was going to die. Just like everybody else. He was going to die so easily, before he really got a chance to live. He stared the beast down defiantly as it charged a black ball in its mouth. Naruto closed his eyes acceptingly as he waited for the finally blow. 'Goodbye, Tou-san.' He felt the magic sphere closing in on him. He kept his eyes closed as he waited for the impact._

_There was none._

_He felt another presence as he opened his eyes. "Tou-san?" He choked out in shock. Minato Namikaze was here and he had redirected the Kyuubi's attack right back at the fox._

_The man had Blonde spiky hair with two bangs framing his face, blues eyes and sharp features. He was wearing a white Haori with red flames licking the bottom over a plain blue turtleneck and matching pants. Tears were running down his face. He stepped into the house, knowing it was safe, taking Naruto with him._

"_I'm sorry, Naruto. I was too late to save everybody," Minato whispered in Naruto's ear whilst hugging the boy. "I can't bring everybody back to life, but I can save you. I'm sorry I won't be able to see you grow up, to see you get married, to see my grandchildren," He held Naruto tighter as he sobbed harder. "I'm sorry… for not being able to protect you."_

_He released the boy from his hug and grasped his shoulders, looking straight into his son's matching blue eyes. "But promise me one thing, Naruto. You have to live, live a happy life. Always follow what you believe in and nobody else. No matter what you do… I'm proud of you son."_

_This was the last thing Naruto heard before darkness took him. Minato had chopped Naruto's neck, sending him into unconsciousness._

_**Flashback off**_

"You've improved, Naruto," Jin praised, relaxing his stance after seeing Naruto's face turn melancholy.

"Thanks, shishou," Naruto said, forcing himself to stand up. He coughed up a little blood and accepted Jin's hand to help himself up.

"Your little problem… have you overcome it yet?" Jin asked.

"Mostly, I still get a little ruthless, but killing is not a problem, I can be merciful, now."

From all the stressful situations Naruto suffered at a young age, Naruto developed a split personality. His other personality was cold, apathetic and merciless. This surfaced about a year ago when Naruto was recognised by a dozen or so dark guild members after a failed Job of theirs. They saw his similarities to Minato Namikaze and attacked him, hoping to earn some money from kidnapping him. Naruto had been travelling back from the village when he was surrounded by them.

_**Flashback**_

"_You should come with us, __**Namikaze**_," _the apparent leader of the group stated, watching for the child's reaction. His relation to the man was pretty much confirmed at the slight widening and narrowing _of _Naruto's eyes._

"_What do you want?" He asked cautiously._

"_Money," the man replied simply, signalling for the men to attack. A series of magic seals appeared around him as Naruto stood in the middle of all the attacks. A barrage of weak fire spells hit the boy._

_Or so the dark guild members thought._

"_Idiots!" The leader roared. "He's worth more alive!"_

"_That's good, because I am alive," an apathetic voice said from in the centre of the group. They watched the smoke clear and saw Naruto. He had an Ice fox's head protecting his form as he emanated killing intent and an ethereal fox formed behind him," His eyes glowed red._

"_I can't let you live," Naruto said in a chilling monotone voice. Suddenly he disappeared. "body flicker," he muttered underneath his breath. Suddenly, the leader's head was detached from his body. The men's eyes widened._

"_Whatever pathetic organisation you had is now gone," The bandits didn't have time to retort because they were all impaled by ice swords forming from the ground." Naruto clutched his head and dropped to his knees. 'what was that?' he thought. He heard his name called and his head snapped to the side._

"_Shishou," he said weakly. Jin didn't reply he just stared at the scene with a blank look on his face. Naruto was worried, he thought that he had disappointed Jin with his actions. He was surprised when Jin gave a deep sigh and muttered "Just as I thought." Naruto gave Jin an inquisitive look. Jin answered the silent question._

"_Split personality. You've been showing signs of it. The way your demeanour changed in spars was a big hint. I suffered from this, too, to a lesser extent anyway. It was triggered by my brother's presence. If you don't learn how to overcome it, you may be consumed by it."_

_**Flashback off**_

"That's good," Jin said. "Your swordsmanship is very good. You are not far off from mastering the style. The only reason I had the advantage all the time was that I am more physically developed and my sword was longer. You truly are one of the most talented young boys of your time."

Naruto gave a foxy grin in return for the praise. "It's all thanks to you, old man," he said cheekily. Jin couldn't help but give a sly grin.

"Damn right, brat," Jin shot back. "But I think its time you got a katana.," Naruto was wide eyed as he followed Jin back to the house.

When he got there, Jin presented him with a wooden box. He opened it to see a Katana with a 20" blade, covered in a blue sheath. It had a forest green hilt that was about 11" with diamond shapes on it. The hilt had three overlapping shuriken like shapes in a metallic silver colour.

Naruto was tempted to hug Jin, but decided against it. He knew rhe man was awkward with affection, so he settled for giving him a massive smile.

"Thanks, shishou! Its totally kick ass!"

Jin simply walked out the room wordlessly, his thumb held up as he walked away. 'Damn brat,' Jin thought. 'I don't want to ever part ways with you.'


	4. Chapter 4

It had been two weeks since Naruto had gotten his new katana. It was a great sword, slightly shorter than a regular Katana, it was made out of a an incredibly strong magic conducting metal. It was very sharp, Naruto found himself able to slice through extremely dense ice blocks like butter. However, with its magical conducting properties, he could line the sword with ice to reduce the cutting power to non-lethal. This contrasted to his wakizashi, that whilst a good sword, he had to hold back a lot if he was not intending to kill, reducing his overall effectiveness.

Jin had started teaching Naruto some new techniques with the blade. Most notably, the **Snow flower storm**. It was a technique that made the sword like a blur with rapid slashes, with an occasional hook kick thrown in to attack the guard with blunt force. It was a very effective attack, and Naruto had gotten the basics of it down. He hadn't mastered it yet.

Right now, Naruto was training in the outskirts of the village on his own. He was training there to escape from the snow of the mountain, to train in more grippy conditions. He was working on a footwork technique that he had been working on for the past two years. It was the **Shukuchi **(reduced earth).

Naruto looked around the clearing, most of the earth had been kicked up and the trees had splintered. Naruto gave a slight grin, he had almost finished it. Jin told him about the technique, saying that with his leg power and skills in footwork, it would be perfect for him. He explained the concept but left the rest for Naruto to figure out.

Shukuchi was a speed technique with no use of magic whatsoever. It required high level footwork and leg power. It basically made the user move faster than the eye could see, only the sight of the ground or walls being reduced giving a hint to where the user is. This was so useful because with the amount of steps used, you are able to change direction on a whim, unlike a lot of speed techniques using magic, like Naruto and Minato's body flicker which forced the user to move in straight lines.

Naruto sat down with an ungraceful thud, breathing slightly erratic. He brushed his spiky bangs out of his eyes with a slight huff. 'I really need to buy a facemask,' he thought distantly. He sat there for another two minutes or so, resting his slightly fatigued form, before he felt a presence coming towards him. He didn't change his posture as it came closer. He knew who it was.

"Yo, Itachi-nii," he greeted casually, offering a slight smile to the teen as he appeared in the clearing.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," he replied stoically. Naruto gave him a look, but Itachi's face didn't change.

"You could sound happy about it," Naruto teased. Itachi's lips quirked into a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

"Perhaps," he replied. Naruto growled in frustration at the boys stoic personality. He was pretty sure Itachi was teasing him as hhe did this all the time, but he couldn't help but notice it had become a little more genuine recently. Itachi was becoming more and more distant. It seemed like he was always distracted.

Itachi's skills were on a whole other level, he had hit a plateau recently, but it didn't really matter for now. His control over fire and illusion magic was nothing short of top class. He was about as strong as a wizard saint right now, but was a relative unknown since he had no affiliation to any guild and came from such a small place.

Naruto suspected Itachi was working for somebody and he had a strong feeling that he was a ninja. He only suspected this because he knew what a ninja was like. He felt the faint pulse of magic Itachi would expel to scout the area. He was constantly surveying the area and he just had that aura around him that screamed deadly. Most of all he suspected a ninja because of some things Naruto remembered his father saying about the job.

'_A ninja is somebody who endures. He endures all hardships and pain to fight for what he believes in. He endures the hatred of the ones he protects and he endures the guilt of every single life he takes. You may not understand this now, Naruto-chan, but someday… you will.'_

Itachi was a person who could and was willing to bear a burden like this. It was strange; Itachi acted so apathetic to everybody but cared about them so much, especially Naruto and Sasuke.

"Enough of that!" Naruto chirped. "How have you been, onii-san?"

"Good," he said. Naruto frowned. He noticed the hesitation in Itachi's voice. Naruto just gave him a dead stare, not buying any of it. Itachi gave a sigh in resignation, Naruto wouldn't buy any of that crap, it seemed. Itachi didn't answer or elaborate at all. Whatever was troubling him, he clearly wasn't going to tell Naruto about it.

"I see…" Naruto said in a distanced tone. "Say, Itachi. I want to ask you something."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Are you a ninja?" Naruto inquired. A brief widening of Itachi's eyes and magic spiking suddenly was confirmation. Itachi schooled his features and turned his gaze onto Naruto.

"How did you know?" He asked sternly, knowing that Naruto already had figured it out.

"My father was a ninja," Naruto replied. "I know what being a ninja entails, Itachi. I admire you for it. It's a heavy burden."

"Your father was a ninja?" Itachi asked, genuinely curious. Naruto had never mentioned anything of the sort. Naruto had always hidden his surname, but Itachi had figured he was Kisaragi's grandson or something. The two looked enough alike to say the least and he knew Naruto was being trained by the man, even if Naruto always referred to him as Shishou, he figured he was just trying to be discreet about it. After all, Jin Kisaragi was an infamous man.

"Yes" Naruto sighed. He knew this was coming, but honestly didn't want to tell anybody about his father if he could help it. "My father was… Minato Namikaze," Naruto continued, gazing off into the distance.

Itachi was surprised at this, but with extreme emotionally control he kept his reaction hidden. "I see… Are you planning to become a ninja?" Itachi asked. He didn't want that life for his young blonde friend. He knew how harsh it was. Ninjas worked for the magic council mainly. They set up dark guilds that stay in the shadows and place ninjas in there to do their dirty work. Some ninjas posed as independent dark mages if they were particularly powerful and would draw attention to the purposefully discreet dark guilds if they were involved with them. It was a necessary evil: the higher-ups weren't naïve. They spied, they infiltrated and they assassinated. It was not a nice job.

"No," Naruto replied quickly. "The life of a ninja is not one that I would like to live. I'll probably join a light guild at some point. If that doesn't work…then maybe I'll become a wanderer or join another group that solely works in the shadows, no front as a dark guild,"

Itachi was not surprised. Jin Kisaragi had been a member of a group called the shinsengumi after he overcame his initial insanity. It was not common knowledge, at all, neither was the knowledge of the existence of the shinsengumi, but to powerful ninjas and mages it was known.

The Shinsengumi was not much different from ninjas, really. They didn't refer to themselves as ninjas, but they protected peace from the shadows. Their blades did not discriminate. Many times have corrupt government officials been assassinated. This group worked completely in the shadows with an unknown funder. The magic council wasn't stupid. They knew they existed and allowed them to exist as long as they took no action against the magic council themselves.

"I am glad," Itachi replied, happy that Naruto would join a light guild. He knew why Naruto would: for protection. Being the son of Minato Namikaze painted a massive tarhet over one's head after all, and the apprentice of Jin Kisaragi? That's bound to bring you a lot of trouble. Itachi knew about Naruto's split personality. If he killed people who didn't really deserve to die, it would completely take over him, at least with the shinsengumi you can decide who you want to kill based on your ideals and sense of justice - to a certain extent anyway. With ninjas, they had to take missions that dark guilds would to blend in with other guilds.

"Thanks," Naruto looked straight in Itachi's eyes, face completely serious. "You don't have to carry the weight of your burden alone. If you do, you may just self destruct," Naruto said, saying the last sentence softly. Itachi gave a silent nod and went to walk away.

'It's too late for me. But thank you, Naruto-kun. Next time you face me, we'll be enemies,' Itachi thought sadly. Eyes forming into a pinwheel shape. 'I'll be a stepping stone for you, because that is the last thing I can be.'

Naruto sighed as he walked into the house he lived in with his master. He closed the door behind him and called for his walked towards the bathroom silently. As he walked down the hallway he heard the sound of hacking coughs that did not sound healthy whatsoever, concerned look growing on his face he increased the pace of his strides and walked into the bathroom where the coughing sounds were heard.

When he walked in, he was greeted by a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life. In there was his shishou sprawled over the sink. He had his hand weaved into his messy blonde hair and he had blood running down his chin. He was unnaturally pale and his green eyes were completely dim as he stared down at basin. Naruto had never seen him look so weak and vulnerable.

"Shishou!" he yelled in concern. Jin coughed up another glob of blood and Naruto rushed over and put a hand on his back.

"Naruto…" Jin trailed off. Naruto's eyes widened, it was the first time Jin had ever called him by his name. "I guess there's no hiding it now, I'm dying," he said weakly. Naruto's pupils shrank in horrorand found his chest tightening up and his throat closing.

"D-Don't mess around, shishou!" Naruto tried to scold, but it came out as a desperate cry.

"Stubborn brat…" he replied, choking on some more blood. "I wouldn't lie about something like this." Naruto didn't reply for a while. He just stared blankly at Jin's blood in the sink. He was deep in thought. His shishou was dying? He couldn't die! Naruto needed him. For him the old man represented strength. He took him in when he had nowhere else to go and even if he called him master, he was more like a grandfather to him. He taught him so much. Memories flashed through his head of all the things Jin had taught him.

"_Emotions are both your greatest weapon and greatest weakness," Jin said to a six year old Naruto who was looking up at him curiously._

"_I don't get it," Naruto said scratching his cheek. Jin sighed._

"_If you let your emotions control you, then you'll always be weak. If you can control your emotions, then you can obtain the strength you need to do what you have to do," Jin said._

"_So if you control your emotions you can like, destroy mountains!?" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Jin hid a smile at his childish nature but replied with a frown._

"_No… that's power. Strength can only be obtained if you have something worth fighting for. People who have no motivation-"_

"_Mo-ti-va-shun?" Naruto asked innocently. Jin glared, annoyed at being interrupted but elaborated so Naruto could understand._

"_Motivation – a reason to do something, basically," he explained simply. He continued, "People who have no motivation, no matter how powerful, will always be weak."_

_An eight year old Naruto stared at the night sky blankly. It was the day where everybody in his village was killed: the 9__th__ of October, one day before his birthday. He thought back on all the lives lost, his parents and his old home. His thoughts were interrupted by a gentle hand on his shoulder and he looked behind him to see Jin giving him a rare soft look._

_Jin knew how it felt to lose people. It was horrible and for a child to experience it was even harsher. Naruto never really cried, but he knew it affected him. He would always get a completely lost look in his eyes, like he didn't know what to do. He was completely expressionless. It was quite unnerving._

"_It hurts doesn't it?" Jin said softly. Naruto looked away slightly and nodded. "Even if the people you care about aren't there physically, they'll always be with you," Jin said._

"_Really?" Naruto asked surprised._

"_Yeah, as long as you have memories, the people you love will never truly die," Jin smiled. The two sat in silence for a while. Neither of them moved, they just stared at the stars. The silence was broken by Naruto who smiled at the older man._

"_Thanks old man," Naruto muttered._

"_Anytime, brat," Naruto took one last look at the stars before walking away._

_Student and teacher, grandfather and grandson, master and apprentice. Their bond would last forever._

"How long do you have left?" Naruto whispered, lone tear falling from his eye.

"About 2 years," Jin replied. He was struggling no to cry. "Damn brat," he exclaimed suddenly, snapping his head to Naruto. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. "I wouldn't have cared if I died five years ago, but now… I don't want to die, I want to live for you! Before I met you, I was a dead man walking… but now I realise that you can only truly live if you have somebody to live for," Jin gave Naruto a sad smile.

"Thanks for allowing me to live," Jin said sincerely. Naruto was wide eyed, Jin cared for him that much, he certainly didn't act like it, but Naruto could now see why. The metaphorical dam broke for Naruto as he couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

"I should be thanking you!" Naruto cried. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even have a chance to live! How can I live without you?" Jin gave a weak grin.

"Stop acting like I'm already dead, brat," He teased weakly. "I'll just have to torture… I mean train you twice as hard to make up for lost time."

Naruto paled.


	5. Chapter 5

It has been 2 years since the day when Naruto found out his master had only 2 years to live. It had been a slightly rough 2 years for Naruto, but there were good times too. Naruto, now 12 years old wore a blue kimono like shirt that was closed lowly by a white belt, showing his torso. He also wore blue armguards with yellow trimmings that ended at the knuckle and started mid forearm. Under these he wore plain black fingerless gloves. On his legs he wore black pants that were stopped mid calf by black sandals. He had his katana tucked into his belt even though he knew how to use basic requip magic to store his weapons. He had taken to wearing a navy facemask, to hide his appearance and resemblance to his father.

Naruto had taken to illusion magic. It was a really good fit to him as it suited his style. He liked being discreet, maybe it was his ninja heritage. However, learning illusion magic made him think of Itachi and with that he felt a wave of sadness for his friend.

On that day 2 years ago, something was wrong with Itachi. Naruto didn't know what until the next day. Itachi had killed both of his parents, taken Sasuke somewhere, presumably an orphanage and disappeared off the map. Naruto wasn't entirely sure why Itachi had killed his parents, but he had a few vague ideas. Naruto knew that Itachi wouldn't do something like that without a reason and desperately wanted to see him again.

It hurt a lot and Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed. Itachi's abrupt departure stung and him not saying good-bye directly stung even more. All Naruto could do was pray that he was okay.

His relationship with Jin hadn't changed much, but there Jin was a lot less hesitant to show his true feelings. However, he wasn't exactly good at expressing himself so not much really changed.

Naruto's had finished his training, learning the succession technique just a week earlier. Jin decided to put a stop to all magic training and focus on the sword style. He was running on borrowed time and magic could only be taught so far; it was up to the user to develop his own techniques and style. He left the rest of his progression to Naruto's free time.

Learning the succession technique was a difficult task. Jin didn't change his teaching technique at all from all the previous times he had taught Naruto a technique: by showing Naruto the technique a few times and then coming at him really aggressively and putting him in a situation where he'd need to use it. It was very effective… after a while. After all, avoiding extreme amounts of pain is a great motivation to succeed.

The technique was called **Judgement: Snowstorm. **It was a very fearsome technique. The technique uses a counter battojutsu that freezes the opponent on hit. The battojutsu is performed from the leading leg, making it much faster, however also much more risky to perform. The reward to the risk is a much faster slash. The user then produces ice swords to impale the opponent if intending to finish them off. Otherwise he just re-sheaths his sword and knocks the recipient out.

The initial strike is able to kill and the ice swords are really just a precaution. The user is able to hold back and keep it non-lethal.

Naruto got out of bed to the familiar sound of his shishou's coughs, but something was off. They sounded more desperate. More tired. More weak. Naruto had a terrible feeling flood through his whole body. He didn't want to acknowledge the feeling, but he couldn't deny it. There was only one conclusion to come to: Jin was dying.

Naruto walked to the old man's bedroom almost on autopilot. Thoughts and emotions swirling through his head, he opened the door and saw a deathly pale looking Jin staring at the ceiling. Naruto felt a tear roll down his cheek. He knew it was coming and did his best to prepare himself, but this was something he couldn't really prepare himself for this at all.

"Brat…" Jin called out weakly, turning his head slightly. His green eyes slowly travelled over to Naruto's form. Naruto couldn't help but crack a small grin despite the situation.

"Old man…" he retorted softly. Jin smiled briefly before continuing.

"I'm going to die today, Naruto," he said calmly. Naruto turned his head away slightly and walked to the elderly man's side.

"I-I know," he replied.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you grow up. I'm really proud of you, you know," Jin said with a smile. Naruto felt a sense of déjà vu here; it was just like when his dad died. Jin continued on when Naruto offered a faint smile in response as tears fell freely down his face.

"I've made many mistakes in my life, done many things I regret, but I'm happy I could use those experiences to sculpt this fine young man in front of me. Now I can die without any regrets and know that my existence had a purpose other than destruction," Jin spoke sagely, words growing weaker and weaker. "I'm running on borrowed time, so I'll get to the point: I have always thought of you as a grandson…" Jin coughed up some more blood whilst Naruto wiped away his tears.

"You've always been a grandfather to me, too…" Naruto murmured softly.

"I want you to take Yukianesa, you deserve it…" Jin said sincerely. Naruto'd eyes widened but he quickly nodded. Jin had been using the sword for decades, it would be like having his Shishou with him all the time.

"Bury me in the mountains… I want to be one with the ice," Jin whispered before his eyes closed. Naruto stared at the form of his teacher as his slow rising and falling of his chest gradually came to a halt. Naruto wiped his tears and stood up.

'As long as I savour every memory of you, you will never die. I'm glad you could die with a smile on your face.' Naruto thought.

**A few days later**

Naruto had spent the last few days grieving and paying respects for his late teacher. He wasn't one for moping so he refrained from doing so, after all, Jin would probably kick his ass in the afterlife if he did. He spent time reminiscing about old and almost forgotten memories, burying him and saying goodbye to him.

He was already missing the old man and had been at a loss at what to do. He decided that it was time to spread his wings so to speak. He was going to join a guild after a few months of wandering. What guild, he had no idea, but he wasn't going to rush his decision.

Naruto found himself walking on foot to the nearest neighbouring village. He had enough of everything, but the village near the mountains was rather secluded and there wasn't a train station in sight.

Naruto sighed as he walked down the path at a steady pace. He could travel faster, but he wasn't in a rush at all. However all this walking was quite boring… He had better things to do! Like training and… nothing else, really. He sighed once again when he realised he really had no idea what he was doing and nothing importantthst hr hsd to do.

He went to find a place to get some sleep. Jin taught him how to live in the wild and he had no problem with doing it. Unfortunately, the senile old coot's methods were irresponsible as usual and consisted of him giving Naruto basic and essential survival tips and then dumping him in a random clearing and telling him not to bother trying to get home before week was up. He then proceeded to put an illusion on the area so Naruto couldn't find his way to town.

He claimed that it wasn't irresponsible; he just had faith in his apprentice's abilities.

Naruto shook off his thoughts and jumped up onto a sturdy branch of tree. He lounged on it in a rather relaxed manner, a thousand thoughts in his mind. He decided he wouldn't wield Yukianesa for a while; it would bring too much attention to him. Naruto scowled at the thought. Jin was a good man, but so many people judge him without even knowing anything about him.

The same thing happened to his father, he became a public enemy due to his status as a dark mage. Nobody bothered to look underneath the underneath, to think before judging. He supposed it was a childish thought. It's natural to make assumptions about people, and everybody has thought like that at some point, no matter how understanding they may be. But sometimes, Naruto wished we lived in a world where everybody could understand each other; or at least everybody could make the effort to try.

He stopped his musing as he looked up to the moon and then realised that it was quite late. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

**The next day**

Naruto woke up abruptly with deep breaths. He felt the common feeling of sweat on his body and his eyes quickly surveyed his surroundings. He was outside. His erratic breathing calmed down as he realised that he had just woken up and he was merely having a nightmare.

Nightmares weren't uncommon for Naruto to have. He often found himself re-living the Kyuubi's attack or moments where he snapped. He remembered bathing in the blood of innocent men. At first, the kills didn't affect him too badly. He was still a child and had failed to grasp the full reality of the situation at the time. However, after re-living the memory in his sleep one day, he was then fully realised just what he had done.

He had kept it bottled up on the inside, not willing to worry Jin in his limited time. It was a foolish thing to do and he regretted it. However, he couldn't do anything about it now, so he repressed it.

Naruto slapped his forehead as he realised that he didn't have to walk. Naruto jumped up into the air gracefully and formed a slab of ice underneath his feet. "Ice car," he muttered before shooting off out of the clearing. He sped through the trees, weaving dangerously and laughing with delight. Being reckless certainly was exhilarating he thought with a grin. Soon he found himself at the village. He pointedly ignored the shady men blocking the only entrance to the village and snuck into the village quietly.

When he entered the village, the first thing he noticed was how dead it looked. Everybody had lum faces, except for a couple of bandits wandering around. He narrowed his eyes. The bandits had clearly taken over the village.

He wasn't just gonna sit and watch this happen, so he flickered off on top of a building to survey the area. He spread out his senses to look for where the most people were. Chances are there could have been a base of operations or something where the bandits were. His eyes snapped open as he felt a high concentration of people to his north. He quickly got to his intended area and cast a minor illusion, making him invisible.

He listened to the chatter from a point in a dark alley next to a bar.

"We've almost sucked this town dry, hahaha," he heard a voice say.

"Yeah, we are probably gonna be moving on soon, there's not much left here," another grizzly voice agreed.

"Haha, we've rounded up the women, we're gonna be transferring them to our camp all at once. Then we're gonna give them a test run hehehehe," the man replied with a perverted giggle. Naruto was sickened. He was going to stop this. He stayed for a while gathering more information. He had a vague idea where the base was. It was outside the village, a makeshift camp that wasn't well done at all. It was easily traceable and overall, it was pathetic.

However, he wasn't going to risk it. He had a plan to get into the base and free any girls they might already have there.

Naruto travelled to where all the girls were. They were kept in the local jail cells that the bandits must have taken over, judging by the scent of blood. The building was small; it only had one floor and two doors, a front door and a back door. Naruto cast an illusion over the bandits guarding it to make him invisible and silently entered through the back door. He blurred behind a man who was guarding the insides and gave a swift chop to the back of his neck, knocking him out. He caught him mid fall and lowered him onto the ground.

He froze his unconscious form and gave the frightened women in the cell a quick look and reassuring nod whilst holding hid finger to his lips, gesturing them to be quiet. They calmed down slightly, trembling lightly.

Naruto froze the lock and then crushed it in his hands. He led them out of the back door one by one.

"T-Thank you," One of the girls said shakily. He just nodded mutely, not looking their way. He walked back to the cell and closed himself in, putting an illusion on there to make it look like the girls were in there.

He sat in there for a few hours, working over his plans. He was waiting for the bandits to come and collect the girls. He wanted to pose as a victim and get in the bandit camp that way. He could free anybody that was already there and take down anybody that was there.

He had mulled over his plans and was waiting apathetically for the men to come. He watched a grizzly man with a beer belly and a stubble open a padlock that wasn't there. He created a false padlock with ice and planted an illusion over it. It was already unfastened. Naruto walked at the front of the line using some transformation magic to make him look like a petite girl of about 15 years old with fair blonde hair and pale skin. He faked a clumsy walk and fumbled his way into the cart. Nobody saw the smirk cross his face as they ushered the illusionary girls into the cart.

Naruto closed his eyes in thought. The world was not a nice place. He understood why people like his father existed and why he admired them. He didn't know why these people were doing what they were doing, but he didn't like it one bit. Regardless of the reason, he was going to stop this. It was hard not to judge people when what they were doing was so disgusting and had to consciously reprimand himself in his thoughts again and again to shake those thoughts off.

Naruto tensed when he found himself roughly grabbed and thrown on to the hard ground. He looked around stoically, faces of women who were basically dead whilst alive were what he was greeted with. He waited for the man to throw all his illusionary girls on the flaw. It would have been humorous to see the man throwing things that weren't there if the situation wasn't so disturbing.

The man closed the gate roughly and gave a twisted grin.

"I'll see you later, ladies," He cackled out with a wink.

When he was out of sight Naruto's gaze hardened as the transformation was undone and his eyes glowed red. "Fool," he muttered.

Naruto stood up straight, noticing that the look in the girl's eyes hadn't changed. He grunted and turned on his heel.

"Stay here," he said darkly, feeling that nobody was close anymore. He pulled his sheathed sword from his belt and got into a stance. He drew his sword from his sheath at insane speeds and cut through the cell bars like butter. That got a reaction from all the girls as there eyes widened in fear.

"W-what are you doing, you'll get us killed!" One of the women said in a hushed whisper.

"Tch… whatever. Just stay here," he said coldly, split personality taking over. He then blurred out of view.

He observed a group of bandits playing cards through a window. He snarled a little before freezing the all whilst they were none the wiser. "Arctic atmosphere: Ice chamber," he whispered. Naruto walked calmly through the camp, feeling two people around the corner. He turned the corner with his sword in his hand. He chopped the man with his back facing him the neck as the man watching eye's widened. Before he could say anything, Naruto smashed the sheath of his sword in the man's temple, knocking him out savagely. Dragged the two men into dark spaces and froze them.

He spread his senses out. There were about 30 people left. He systematically knocked them out, and froze them one by one, group by group as there were none left. He went back to the cell with the women in it. His eyes had reverted to the usual blue.

"You're safe now," he said softly. The women couldn't form words, just nodded dumbly.

"I'll take you back to the village now," He said. They were hesitant, obviously scared. Seeing this, his eyes softened.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said with an eye smile. He held out his hand and led them out of the cell.

**A few hours later**

After a long journey and a couple of bandits taken down, Naruto found himself back at the village. There he was greeted by the village leader, who had presumably heard about his actions through the first few people he saved. The village was void of any bandits, so they must have all returned to camp and subsequently have been destroyed by him.

He sighed as he received thanks and accepted them graciously. He returned some money from the camp he retrieved and politely asked for them not to bring too much attention to him.

He took a small payment, much to his reluctance and the leader's insistence and a place to stay.

He thanked them and went to sleep.

**Sorry for the delay. No real excuses here, I just suffer from a horrible case of chronic laziness.**

**This chapter just really shows Naruto's journey. I wanted to show how Naruto handles situations and his train of thoughts.**

**I haven't really had an opportunity for Naruto to act really in character here. I won't just make him an OC with Naruto's name. He will be dense and his verbal tic is still there. He'll just be at odds with it. It will be like "-ttebayo... fuck I said it,"**

**I'm not entirely sure about Naruto's quirks. He'll have his ramen addiction, denseness and Kakashi's "Hm, did you say something?" But I want to do something else. I'm thinking of reckless driving.**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto, who hadn't changed much over the past three months looked up from the little orange book in his eyes and surveyed the area briefly. He was on a quiet street on the outskirts of Magnolia. Adults were happily talking to each other, gossiping about the local happenings. A couple of merchants were waiting for the daily influx of customers to arrive and the wind calmly blew against his exposed chest.

He had recently taken to keeping his right arm out of his top's sleeve so he could fiddle with the exposed hilt of his sword. It was comfortable and it was an exuse to wear less clothing, if only slightly.

His eyes drifted down to the orange book and he kept on reading, expression not changing a bit. He found an Icha Icha book left on a train one day and read it on his journey. Needless to say he got maybe a little fascinated and had purchased the other books in the series (Thank god for transformation magic).

Life on the road had been nice for Naruto. He was slightly lonely, but it had been a valuable experience for him. He got to see many different places and had met a few people during his travels. He occasionally took on jobs for money, but used transformation techniques and fake names to keep attention off him. He didn't really want to deal with any unwanted attention he justified to himself, but really he was just overly paranoid.

He didn't really spend much money, though, so his gama-chan was always full. (It was the only thing he had to remind him of his life before Jin, he wasn't gonna get rid of it). He had purchased two kodachi blades, though. They were useful, after all kodachis had great defensive properties with their small size making them very quick but have poor offensive qualities. Jin had taught Naruto how to use other types of swords than the katana and wakizashi. Not to the same level as the katana, though.

Naruto blinked when he took his eyes off his book briefly and saw a small red haired girl wearing a blue dress. She had an eye patch over her eye and she looked lost. Nobody looked like they were going to help her so he decided to give her a hand.

He approached her slowly and called out to her. "Hey," he said softly, already quite close to her. She turned and gave him a questioning look, flinching a bit at his stare. She saw the katana at tensed a bit, but her lone eye had a visible glint in her eye.

He continued, knowing he had her attention. "You look lost, do you want some help?" he asked giving her an eye-smile. She blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"I-I'm looking for fairy tail," she replied, not looking him in the eye. Naruto hummed in thought. That was on the other side of town and he couldn't give directions. He knew how to get there, though and truly, he was curious. He was planning to join a guild at some point; this just gave him an excuse to have a look.

"Hmm, why don't I take you there?" He asked kindly. She nodded hesitantly. "Alright," he chirped. "My name is Naruto. How about you?"

"Erza," She replied. He started to walk off, but noticed she wasn't following him. He turned his head slightly and tilted it slightly.

"Well are you coming?" Erza quickly realised she wasn't following him and blushed in embarrassment again. As she caught up, Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. 'I'm being followed,' he thought as he felt a strong but very well suppressed signature watching him from a nearby alley.

Naruto ignored it for the time being, walking in a comfortable silence with Erza to the Fairy Tail guild. He refrained from reading his book on the way there. Deciding to break the silence he asked, "So are you planning to join Fairy Tail?"

"Yes," she replied curtly. Deciding not to prod and ask why, he decided to share some words that could help her.

"I don't know what situation you are in and I'm not going to ask, but if you are planning to join Fairy Tail…" he trailed off seeing he had her full attention. "You don't have to suffer alone. Nothing can lessen pain other than time, but it becomes easier to bear when you are sharing it with somebody else," he lectured calmly. Erza didn't reply, but he glanced at her from the corner of her eye and saw she was contemplating his words.

They continued walking until they found themselves at a castle-like building. Erza gaped, the building was huge.

"Ready?" Naruto asked. Erza gave a slight nod and walked into the door. Naruto peered in from behind her and saw it was a tavern like building with lots of people in there. He noticed a girl in an orange dress with brown hair shuffling some cards and a boy in his boxers. Naruto snorted in amusement remembering old times with his teacher fondly. He didn't need to feel his signature to realise that he was an ice mage.

He felt the signatures in the room briefly to look for the boss. His attention was shifted to an old man sitting on the bar's counter. He was powerful. He could feel that much.

"Erza, go talk to the old man on the bar stool, he is probably the master," Naruto advised. He saw him shift his attention to their direction. Murmurs sounded through the guild as they were noticed by the members.

"Hello, young ones," Makarov greeted kindly. He felt the analysed the two children quietly. The girl had a lot of potential judging by her reserves. She looked slightly nervous but masked it well. The boy, though…

His magic power was suppressed extremely well. This suggested he had great control. From what he could feel, his magic was cold. Very cold. Even colder than Gray's. His posture was completely relaxed, but they way he walked reminded him of somebody, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was. He was gazing around the room curiously. The boy's eyes flickered to him in acknowledgement of his greeting. Makarov continued, getting to the point.

"I am Makarov Dreyar, master of this guild, what can I do for you?" He asked. Immediately the girl piped up. Her brown eyes were determined as she spoke.

"My name is Erza Scarlet and I want to join Fairy Tail," she stated. He gave a grandfatherly smile as he answered.

"Ok then," Erza look surprised that it was so easy. His eyes flickered over to Naruto and he gave him a questioning look. "And you?"

Naruto gave an eye smile and scratched the back of his neck. "I just showed Erza the way," he said sheepishly. "Maybe another time… ero-jiji," he said slyly, noticing his eyes trailing over to the waitresses' legs. Before Makarov could retort he whipped out an orange book and started reading. Makarov spluttered trying to find a response at his bold proclamation.

"Hm, did you say something?" he asked lazily as he looked up from his book. He abruptly turned on his heel and threw his book over his head into Makarov's hands. The old man looked at it curiously and read the page that it was open on. His nose trickled blood and he let out a perverted giggle. He went to thank Naruto, but the boy was already gone in the wind.

Naruto appeared outside of the guild with a serious look in his eye. He pulled his sword from his belt and scanned the area.

"Come out," he said sternly, eyes flickering red briefly. He tensed as he felt somebody fall to the ground. He sweatdropped when he saw that the man had landed on some boxes and they had broken under his weight. He was laying on the ground with swirls in his eyes.

"Why were you following me?" he inquired cautiously. The man now fully recovered and standing up gave him a smile. Naruto analysed the man. He was very short, standing at 5"4, only 2 inches taller than Naruto himself. He had red hair kept in a bushy ponytail that reached his lower back. His eyes were purple and rounded and he had a cross shaped scar on his cheek.

He was wearing a deep blue kimono top and white hakama. He had a sword tucked into his obi sash and his footwear was surprisingly traditional wearing straw sandals with white socks.

"I was just making sure that girl was safe, that I was," The man spoke in a rather feminine voice. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Do I look that untrustworthy?" Naruto growled, agitated.

"No, no, no, not at all!" He said sheepishly. Naruto's eyes widened briefly. 'This man!' he thought. The man noticed the widenening of the boy's eyes and waited for him to speak.

"Are you…?" Naruto trailed off, realising that maybe he shouldn't continue this talk in public he continued "Never mind."

"You're Naruto, right?" The man asked. "Jin-dono's apprentice,"

"Maybe," Naruto replied testily.

"We've met before that we have. I almost didn't recognise you with that mask on," The man replied with a smile.

'I knew it!' Naruto thought. "I'm surprised you remember me," Naruto replied. He had only met the once whem he was seven. He had visited Jin for something. What he was visiting Jin for, he had no idea but he remembered being introduced to the man.

"Ah, reminded me of somebody else that you did, that's all. So how is Jin-dono?" Kenshin asked.

"He's dead," Naruto replied stoically. He did learn from Jin's emotional control lessons, he just didn't put them to use when he didn't have to.

"I see… He was a great man that he was," the effeminate red head said sadly. "What are you doing now? Do you have any idea what you want to do?"

"I am just wandering for a few months… then I will join a guild I guess. I want to get stronger so it seems like the best option," Kenshin appeared to be thinking. He beamed a bit slightly as it appeared that he had just thought of something.

"How about you travel with me for a while? I could use a companion, travelling does get lonely after all," Kenshin suggested kindly.

"Really? Well, I guess I don't have anything better to do…. must admit I am curious about you. Apparently we have a similar problem…"

"Oh?"

"Split personalities. Shishou mentioned that you were the only other person he had seen who suffered from it other than me," Kenshin's eyes widened at this.

"Really, do you know anything that can stop it?" Kenshin asked hopefully.

"That I do," Naruto replied. "Let's talk about this later, now's not really the time,"

Kenshin just nodded in agreement.

"Hey can I have a spar with you? I want to see how I stand against somebody like you,"

Kenshin was reluctant because he didn't really want to fight when not necessary. However, he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about Naruto.

"That you can," The man replied.

**A few hours later**

Naruto and Kenshin were standing in a field outside of Magnolia. Naruto took the sword out of his belt. He felt a strange sense of excitement and fear. This man – the hitokiri battosai – was in another league. Famed for his notable lack of powerful magic, he could stand at the top with only basic speed and sword magic.

Kenshin similarly was pumped up. Even if he didn't want to fight unless he had to, he couldn't deny he liked doing it. He especially enjoyed fighting against skilled swordsman, but they were rare. The only ones who could pose a real challenge to him was Jin Kisaragi and Saitou Hajime in the lost art of old fashioned swordsmanship. This child, while he wouldn't be able to beat him, yet, he could tell he was talented and it would only be a matter of time before he was surpassed by the child.

Naruto slid into a battojustsu stance as did Kenshin. A leaf dropped to the ground and they both shot into action. A clanging noise was heard in the clearing and soon there were more and more resounding through the area. Naruto appeared in fron to Kenshin, unleashing a powerful downwards quick draw strike. Kenshin blocked heavily with his blade and a small crater was formed underneath the ground from the force. Kenshin defended swiftly as Naruto blurred away from his position appeared at his side wit a violent side, dodging carelessly. He repeated the action multiple times.

Naruto kept his cool at the red haired man's solid defense, backing off a bit. Kenshin sent a precise slash at him diagonally, but his eyes widened when Naruto had somehow twirled around him, sending a slash at Kenshin's back. Kenshin dashed forward to avoid getting hit, but was grazed by the blade.

'That footwork… superb' the older swordsman thought. He twisted around and sent a slash with 2 follow ups in retaliation. But Naruto had evaded all of them by staying completely out of range with overlapping steps that brought up the ground underneath him.

Kenshin sheathed his sword and struck it at Naruto's left side. Naruto's eyes widened as he barely brought up the sheath of his sword for a desperate block. He felt a dull throbbing in his arm from the force of the strike. He mentally winced at that. He decided that it was time to use magic.

He body flickered away from Kenshin, sending 5 ice swords at thim. The man narrowed his eyes and dodged them all by rushing forward. He saw Naruto's approach as he decided that it was time for him to start to use techniques too as he had a feeling as to what would happen.

"Snow flower storm," Naruto murmured as he went to send a blur of slashes at Kenshin. Kenshin in turn retaliated with his own attack.

"Dragon Nest Flash," he said as he and Naruto's sword together. They were moving in blurs as both swords clashed together relentlessly. Naruto had no opportunity to land any hook kicks so he refrained. He was at a disadvantage here. Kenshin was slightly faster and quite a bit stronger than him. He concentrated his magic and a pale blue seal formed under Kenshin's feet. The red head quickly dashed backwards as a block of ice that would have trapped him appeared into existence.

Naruto was panting slightly, the use of magic whilst working hard physically taking his toll on him. He and Kenshin stood at a standstill, peering at each other from just out of range.

To Kenshin's surpise, Naruto started bouncing on each foot springily. Naruto's eyes were glowng red and he had an ethereal fox behind him.

"I know you're toying with me, Battosai," he said coldly. "This battle is beyond me, but I have one more thing for you,"

"You are definitely talented that you are," Kenshin said. "I have not had a fight like this for a long time."

"Hn,"

Kenshin's eyes widened as Naruto just disappeared. The gground was being brought up as Kenshin heard his powerful steps surround the area roughly. 'Shukuchi!' he thought in alarm.

Kenshin predicted where he would come from as he attempted to defend from a slash but it was too fast. This caused a cut to form along his arm. Naruto apruptly disappeared again, ground being upturned. Kenshin barely blocked another slash from him. 'I'm getting used to his speed,' Kenshin thought. A clang was heard as Kenshin blocked the next strike. Naruto blurred away again. Kenshin prepared him self to counter. He closed his eyes as he got into a battojutsu stance. Naruto appeared in front of him this time, but when Kenshin's eyes snapped open, he didn't see the boy. Suddenly he heard a thumping sound on the ground.

He looked down and saw Naruto tap the ground with his hilt jumped a bit and he grabbed it whilst it was rising and brought it up in an upwards battojutsu slash. Kenshin's eyes widened and he stepped back and and avoided a rising ice dragon forming in the slashes' arc barely.

"Rising ice dragon head!" Naruto shouted as he finished the attack. Kenshin, having already dodged got Naruto whilst he was vulnerable as he sent an upwards slash at Naruto's jaw, using his free hand to apply force to the unsheathed sword.

"Dragon Flight Flash!" He cried as he sent his reverse blade sword in the boy's jaw, knocking him out.

Kenshin's breath was ragged as he stared at the motionless form of Naruto.

"His talent is unreal," He said as he picked him up and walked away.

**Eh, needed a reason for Naruto to join Fairy Tail and seeing Makarov's kindness would be his reason for joining. Accepting a girl who only has potential and nothing to her name is without hesitation is a good reason.**

**I'm seriously considering changing the pairing to Mira. I think a tsundere Mira would be a good fit for Naruto and a lot less complicated to deal with. **

**This fight was to just show where Naruto was, really. Kenshin was holding back. **

**I'll be skipping over Naruto and kenshin's wandering, he'll be joining Fairy Tail next chapter. No idea when the next chapter is coming, whenever I can be bothered I guess.**


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto leant against the edge of the train's carriage, leaning on his katana lazily. His eyes were closed but he was awake. He sighed as he shifted his position a little to get comfortable. His travelling companion sat opposite to him staring out of the window peacefully.

Naruto was going to Magnolia to join Fairy Tail. Kenshin insisted on coming with him because he had to go there for some reason Naruto wasn't sure of. He was looking forward to joining Fairy Tail. He liked travelling with Kenshin, and would definitely miss travelling with him and seeing the world, but travelling around was tiresome and lonely. Naruto wanted to make some friends his own age. Kenshin was good company and he really liked hanging around with him but he didn't get the opportunity to truly befriend anybody else.

Kenshin was sad that Naruto was no longer going to be travelling with him, but understood that Naruto needed at least some form of childhood. In fact, he was the one that suggested that Naruto settle down at this point. Naruto was reluctant at first, wanting to spend more time with Kenshin for a while longer, but he conceded and saw the positives. Still, he had grown attached to the boy.

He was eternally grateful to Naruto for helping him with his problem. In the last 5 months, Kenshin had gained better control over his split personality than in eight years.

He found out from the young blonde that to prevent the split personality from taking over that you didn't need to push it away, but accept it was a part of you. However, you should hold some sort of self worth and value your life otherwise it will control you.

Kenshin sat in a comfortable silence with Naruto, but Naruto couldn't help but notice the long box that Kenshin was carrying. It looked like a box that held a sword.

"Hmm, Kenshin?" Naruto spoke up.

"Yes?"

"What is in that box?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh this? It is a gift for you, that it is," Kenshin replied with a cheery smile.

"Really? What is it?"

"Here, take a look," He said with a pleasant smile. He handed the box over to Naruto and the blonde took it, eyes sparkling. He opened it and saw a standard length Katana, longer than his usual one. It had a black sheath and a circular guard. The hilt was a bloody red with the standard diamond shapes on it. He drew the blade and noticed more resistance as he pulled it out. The blade was a standard length, but he noticed one fundamental difference. The blade was on the wrong side. It was a sakabatou.

Naruto gave him a genuine eyesmile and scratched the back of his neck.

"It is a beautiful sword, thank you," Naruto thanked gratefully.

"It is fine, that it is. I know you can control your blade with ice, but it is more symbolic, that it is," Kenshin explained.

"Still, thank you, I'll make good use of it. I promise-ttebayo!" Naruto palmed his face when his verbal tic. He blushed in embarrassment and Kenshin chuckled. Naruto scowled and formed some ice on the end of his finger and flicked at Kenshin's head. It knocked his head back and swirls formed in Kenshin's eyes.

"Oro?"

Naruto snorted at Kenshin's goofy nature. Kenshin immediately recovered and Naruto decided to give him his gift. Naruto had a look of concentration appear on his face as he requipped something into his hand.

"I also got you a gift, Kenshin," he said, handing over the object to Kenshin. The man looked at it curiously. It was a beautiful sheath. It was a polished forest green that gleamed in the light. A happy smile found its way to Kenshin's face as he remembered the symbolic significance of the sheath.

_Flashback_

"_Naruto, can you help me with my battousai self?" Kenshin asked with a rare serious expression on his face. Naruto stared at the night stars in the makeshift camp. He was lying down with his arms crossed behind his head._

"_Yes." He replied promptly. Kenshin looked at him expectantly but Naruto didn't change his position at all._

"_What is the most important part of a sword?" Naruto asked seriously. Kenshin looked confused, but answered anyway._

"_The blade," he said like it was obvious. Naruto peered at him with one eye open._

"_No." Kenshin looked slightly confused but listened anyway. "The sheath," Naruto replied sharply. Kenshin's eyes widened in realisation._

"_The sheath is what keeps our sword drawn, if we flaunt our blade, everybody is our enemy. The blade's only purpose… is to destroy." Kenshin listened intently. "Our sheath is what keeps our destructive tendencies at bay, yet can also be used as a weapon. Humans are like a sword. Our natural instinct is to destroy, nothing we can do can change that. This is a truth we must accept. However, our sheath is our morals, our self worth and our bonds. They keep use from being tools of nothing but destruction and give us a reason to resist. They can make us stronger if we channel all of our destructive power in upholding them. People with no morals, no self worth and no motivation are just blades with no purpose other than to destroy," Naruto sat up and gave him a cheery eye smile._

"_As long as you keep your sheath strong, your other self will not control you,"_

_Flashback off_

"Thank you, for everything," Kenshin said.

"Likewise, it has been fun," Naruto replied with a smile that was mirrored by Kenshin. The train stopped and The two got off and gave their last farewells.

"See ya Kenshin,"

"That you will," He said. Naruto walked off calmly and held up his thumb behind him. With his free hand he whipped out an orange book and walked off intoto the distance. Kenshin watched his young friend in amusement as he began to read his porn. He noticed that Naruto also had the sakabatou on his side, crossed over his regular katana.

Naruto got to the building he had visited only a few months earlier stood outside. He wasn't nervous, he was just excited. He pushed the door open and immediately whipped his head to the side as a beer glass came flying at his head. He raised an eyebrow and looked into the building.A massive sweatdrop formed on the side of his head as he witnessed the scene in the building.

A white haired girl in goth clothes was fighting with a redheaded girl in armour. 'Erza, huh? She seems to be doing well' Naruto thought as he looked at the rest of the guild. Chairs were flying, and everybody else was just in a wild brawl. He was so transfixed in the scene, that he almost didn't notice the master jump from the second floor. The short man used titan magic and towered over everybody in the guild.

"**STOP, YOU FOOLS!" **Everybody came to an immediate halt all looking a bit roughed up. They all noticed the teenage boy reading a familiar orange book standing at the entrance.

"Yo," he said giving a two fingered salute as his eyes flashed up from his book.

The master shrunk down to his normal size as he looked at the boy intently. "A newcomer?"

"Yeah, kinda," The short man looked at the boy intently. Naruto stayed completely cool under his intense gaze.

'He seems familiar' he thought. His eyes widened in realisation and a massive grin formed on his face.

"That's great! Anything for the one who introduced me to the heavenly Icha Icha series!" He said cheerfully. Immediately Naruto felt lots of chilling, even for him, stares on his back. He started to sweat a bit under the weight of the stares.

"Uh, thanks…" He said, scratching the back of his neck. He walked over to the short man.

"Come with me," Makarov said as he led Naruto up to his office.

They arrived in the office. Makarov sat down. Naruto noticed the booster seat and his lips quirked in amusement.

"What's your name lad?" Makarov asked.

"Naruto," he replied.

"No last name?"

"Uhh…" Makarov noticed his hesitation and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Naruto sighed deeply but he realised that it was unavoidable now.

"Its Namikaze…" Makarov's eyes widened. Naruto continued on anyway, "I've managed to keep it hidden… but if I'm joining your guild then I'm not going to lie to you,"

Makarov nodded in acceptance. "Thank you for telling me, boy. I appreciate honesty. I am not going to judge you based on your father's actions. However, I did know the man well; I see no reason to distrust you,"

"That being said," Naruto replied hesistantly, "I never thought about it before, but I might as well go by mother's surname,"

"That is understandable and definitely a wise decision."

"Alright, so Naruto Uzumaki," he said finally.

"Uzumaki? You're Kushina's boy!?"

"You knew my mother dattebayo!?" Naruto exclaimed without thinking. He glowed red at his second slip of the day. He hated that verbal tic!

"Dattebayo?" Makarov snorted. "Definitely her son. She was a member of Fairy Tail, she left for unknown reasons, but I can probably guess why she left now. How is she?"

Naruto looked away slighty. "She died about 8 years ago," Makarov bowed his head slightly.

"I see." He would mourn later. "Where would you like your guild stamp and in what colour?"

The blonde pointed to the right side of his chest and pulled his shirt away slightly. "Here, in orange I guess."

"Orange?" Makarov asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is my favourite colour," He admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Makarov nodded and stamped his chest. "Welcome to the family," He said with a smile as he got up and walked out of the room. Naruto followed behind him, fiddling with the hilt of his katana.

"Listen up, we have a new member!" He shouted, gesturing to Naruto.

The guild noticed Naruto standing there. Some murmurs sounded throughout the guild. A few of the younger girls blushed at him.

Naruto gave an eye smile. "Yo, name's Naruto," he said as he gave a two fingered salute. Makarov tapped his back, encouraging him to go down. He vanished and re appeared in a body flicker on the ground. A lot of eyes widened at his speed. He appeared behind some kids that looked around his age.

"Yo," he said, making a lot of people jump.

The white haired girl turned around and scowled, her cheeks were slightly pink. She was angry t the fact she blushed and at the fact that he had gotten behind her so easily and at the fact he introduced those pervy books to the master and…

Well he just pissed her off. Poor boy.

"Don't sneak up on people!" She snapped. Naruto raised his hand into a surrender sign.

"Okay, okay," he said

"Mira-nee, don't be like that," A younger girl said. She had short white hair said. She was wearing a pink dress and was rather cute.

Before the now identified Mira could retort, the girl continued. "I'm Lisanna Strauss and this is my sister Mirajane Strauss," She pointed to a boy in a blue suit and a red bowtie with slightly messy white hair, "This is my brother, Elfman, Strauss,"

Mira huffed and looked away. "I can introduce myself, thank you very much. You're a total flake, by the way, blondie,"

Naruto gaped, what the hell was her problem? Erza, who had been looking intently at Naruto's swords, spoke up.

"My name is Erza Scarlet – Do I know you?" She asked curiously.

"We've met before, I showed you the way here. Glad to see you're doing well," He said.

"Oh, I remember now," She said, blushing slightly at her forgetfulness.

"I'm sorry for not remembering you, please hit me for my incompetence," She said bowing her head.

Naruto cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Hit… you?" He paused. "Reminds me of page 94 of Icha Icha Violence," at the smoldering glares he recieved he backed off slightly. Makarov heard him and giggled perversely.

A girl in an orange dress with brown hair and eyes decided to introduce herself before things got out of hand, but not before sending Naruto another violent glare. "My name is Cana Alberona," Naruto nodded and looked at the topless boy.

"Gray Fullbuster,"

"Levy McGarden," Naruto nodded once again.

"Right, well glad to meet you all," Naruto chirped cheerfully.

"What magic do you use, flaky?" Naruto deadpanned at her.

"Why am I flaky?"

"You look like a girl with that mask on!" Mira teased. "Get to the point,"

"Ah well, I use ice magic and illusion magic. I also know some basic transformation and requip magic, too,"

"Do you have a stripping habit?" Cana asked nervously. She didn't think she could deal with two Grays.

"No, not anymore," he replied with some masked amusement.

"Can you use those swords?" Erza asked with some concealed excitement at the prospect of another sword user. Naruto nodded nonchalantly.

"I challenge you to a duel," She said with determination.

"Eh?" Everybody said. Erza never challenged anybody.

"Whatever, sure," Naruto said. A lot of the people paled. They were worried for the new guy, Erza was… scary.

"Lets go out back," Erza said.

They all went out back. Naruto noticed that most of the guild had followed them.

Naruto and Erza stood, facing each other. Naruto had his eyes closed as Erza's narrowed dangerously. She requipped her sword in her hand and got into a basic stance. It was a standard broadsword. Naruto, deciding to wait and see simply drew his katana and held it in his right hand with hit pointing at Erza. He stood sideways and fixed his stare to her feet.

Erza felt a wave of pressure hit her as he drew his sword. It was intimidating, crushing and cold. Erza stiffened. A particularly good swordsman had an aura that could only be felt by an opponent. Erza had never encountered it before. To her Naruto looked huge and she couldn't see any openings. Despite it being a rather relaxed stance, it felt like every opening was just there to trick her. She unconsciously gulped.

Naruto didn't really know he had that affect. Everybody he had fought seriously was stronger than him; he was used to uphill battes. Fighting Jin, Itachi and Kenshin was no walk in the park.

Makarov, seeing this had a feeling about what was going on. He wasn't a swordsman himself, so he had never experienced it, but he had heard about it. This boy was skilled, he knew that. He was exceptional. He had never quite seen raw talent like it. Not talent that had been nurtured so well, anyway.

"Are you ready?" She inquired, tightening her grip on her sword and steeling her nerves.

"Yeah,"

With that she rushed at him and sent a slash his way. He saw it coming and watched it as he stood back at the last second. It completely missed him. She didn't stop her assault though as she rushed him and sent lots of rapid slashes at him.

'There were lots of holes there,' he thought. He stepped back again to avoid some more wild slashes. Erza's eyes widened it felt like her slashes were going through him. It was irritating.

Makarov looked on in interest. 'Short, quick steps back at a measured distance. We can see it, but to Erxa it looks like he is only an illusion. He has been trained well. That is impressive footwork.'

Naruto looked at the girl as she charged him. 'She's telegraphing," Erza sent some more slashes out of frustration but he didn't step back this time, he moved his body slightly to the side and narrowly dodged a downwards slash and then he turned his katana upside down and pressed the tip to the floor. Erza's sword bounced off the hilt of his sword as he broke her attack. He kicked her feet from under her and pointed his sword at her face.

Erza gasped, she was beaten so easily. She looked up at her opponent and could have sworn that she saw an menacing looking ethereal fox snarling at her, but blinked and it disappeared. She stared blankly for a second but realised that Naruto was offering her a hand up. She grasped his gloved hand, finger brushing against the arm guard as he pulled her up.

"You're a fantastic swordsman," she said. Naruto could have sworn he saw stars in her eyes.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks. You have a lot of potential. I'd like to spar with you again someday,"

He looked back at the guild and saw that they all had rather shocked expressions.

"He beat Erza…" Gray said disbelievingly.

"Wow… that kid is good," a blue haired man said, he was Macao.

Everybody else was sporting similar expressions except for the master, and a red haired man, who just sported massive grins at the thought of new and modest talent.

Naruto smiled slightly.

'I think I'm gonna like it here' He thought as he walked into the guild.

**New chapter. It kind of sucked, but oh well. Erza was beaten so quickly because she was inexperienced and let her frustrations get the better of her.**

**To be honest, I was kind of disappointed in this chapter, but it suits its purpose.**

**The Erza fight was to show his level compared to those in his age group. I'm debating over how strong he'll get when it comes to canon. I still have a while to decide, but i'm deciding between just a bit under Gildarts level or maybe just a bit stronger than laxus in the fighting festival. I'm leaning towards just under Gildarts, because he'll have a few big major fights before canon. (By major, I mean really, really serious and they will be a lot better than all the spars, seeing as Naruto'll be going all out).**

**I'm not giving Naruto slayer power ups. That's not to say he won't have a "Powered up" state, or get a power up. but it won't be like "YOU R WRILL SKIILL I ICE GOD ND I GIB LOT OF POWAH " U 4 NO WRILL RAYSON OTHER DAN lulz," It'll be like a technique**

**Debating on whether to give Naruto chains, like chakra chains, or if it is too much.**

**I am in the middle of writing a new story where Naruto is Erza's younger brother (Two years younger). He'll be quite OOC, but Naruto really comes in with his magic. (Which will be the sharingan (no copying magic) and black lightning). Anyway, the question for that is what will the pairing be for it? It'll either be Naruto x Lisanna or Naruto x Female Sasuke. I'm stuck in between those two. Suggestions please?**


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto stared at the bowl of ramen intently. The steam floated above it almost gracefully, the ratio of noodles to soup was perfect and a heavenly scent emanated from the bowl. It was perfect. He span his chopsticks around his fingers and separated them eagerly. From the corner of his eye he noticed that Gray, Mira and Cana were looking at him with anticipation. He smirked inwardly; he knew what their game was.

"What's that over there!?" He yelled, suddenly pointing at something in a random direction. The people on the table all looked in the direction he was pointing at. Seeing nothing, Mira turned to Naruto.

"What? There's not-" she stopped when she saw Naruto with an empty bowl of ramen in front of him, rubbing his stomach contentedly. His damn mask was still on.

"That was some good ramen," he spoke silkily, eyes gleaming with amusement. The kids deflated like a popped tire, wanting to see Naruto's face. Mira glared at the boy.

"Why do you even wear a mask, flaky?" She asked. She really wanted to see his face. Not that she would admit it but she found him handsome, irritatingly so. He had been here for 2 weeks and nobody had seen him without it on. He was well-guarded and she couldn't help but want to get to know him better. His habits were infuriating; he was dense as a brick; and he was a massive pervert. Yet all of that was so easy to overlook.

Mira would NOT allow herself to overlook it – even if it meant constantly being a jerk to remind her of the fact.

"Maa, maa, we all have our reasons. Who knows?" Naruto replied. He watched the girl fume in her seat. She was about to retort but Erza walked into the guild. She was distracted and went to confront her for her daily fight.

Naruto smiled a bit. He sensed Erza coming, so he knew that he would get away with pissing off Mira that time.

She was really bitchy to him, even more so to him than everybody else. He sensed that most of it wasn't genuine and didn't really know what to think of it. He liked Mira's fiery attitude. It was strangely appealing; maybe he was just a masochist. It did piss him off a lot to be on the receiving end. It felt like he was getting picked on because he was the new guy or something.

Over the past two weeks, he had gotten used to the guild. He had been on a few missions. As a newbie, he couldn't take missions alone until he was vouched for by another member. He went on his first mission with Macao to sort out a Vulcan problem. Needless to say he was allowed to do solo missions. Macao had been impressed by his strength and asked how he got so strong at his age. Naruto just grunted and said that "My master was an irresponsible, senile taskmaster," which got a hearty laugh from said man.

He had made friends with a majority of his age group. Gray had declared himself his rival, wanting to prove himself as the superior ice mage. However, the rivalry was quite one sided…

The master's grandson, Laxus, hadn't given him the time of day. Naruto didn't really react. If he didn't want to talk to him, then Naruto really couldn't care less. He had better things to do than get involved with an arrogant fool, anyway.

Meeting Gildarts was interesting. He was carefree, but he was insanely strong. Naruto could feel the pressure of his magic and was very distinguishable. He didn't get intimidated easily, but it honestly felt like if he stayed too close to the man, it would slip and there would be nothing left of Naruto. He appreciated Naruto introducing the Icha Icha series to the master. It would seem that every male of the older generation did.

Naruto was brought out of thoughts by the sight of Erza and Mira fighting again, destroying a lot of the guild in the process. The chaos came to a halt as the girls appeared in the middle of the guild fighting for dominance as they pushed their hands against each other, spewing out insults.

"Flat chested bitch," Erza spat.

"Tin can bitch," Mira spat back.

"Skanky emo!"

"Ugly tomato headed whore!"

Cana pinched the bridge of her nose and Gray scowled.

"Naruto, you and me right now. I'll show you the superior ice mage," Gray growled, getting in the swing of things.

"Hm, did you say something?" Naruto asked lazily. Gray clenched his fists and jumped over the table to punch Naruto. His fists hit nothing but air as he found himself laying face first on the floor. He got up to charge at Naruto again but stopped when he heard Cana shriek his name.

"Gray! Your clothes," she said with a red face. Gray looked down confused; she never usually reacted so badly to his stripping habits. His eyes widened as he saw that even his boxers were gone. He looked up and saw Naruto holding them in his hand. Gray couldn't see his lips, but knew he was smirking.

"Give me back my underwear!" Naruto looked around, feigning innocence. He pointed to himself, looking startled.

"Who me?" He said, blinking owlishly. Then he proceeded to hold out his hand and freeze the air particles around Gray's crotch area to create a pair of ice underwear. Throwing the underwear into a random direction, he went to order some more ramen, expertly dodging the flying tables and stools caused by Erza and Mira's continued brawl.

Makarov chuckled when he saw the scene. The boy was fitting in nicely. He definitely had his own quirks but he was a genuinely nice boy. He hadn't had the chance to talk to him much, but from the few conversations he had with him, he could tell that he was wise beyond his years. He hadn't got to see much of abilities, but from what he could gather, the boy could potentially be S-Class material. He wasn't going rush him into it, preferring to give the boy maybe another year or so to get settled in.

He had heard from Macao that on the mission they were ganged up on by 10 vulcans. Apparently, the boy got into a stance, reappeared behind them, sheathed his sword behind his back and they were all killed. Swordsmanship on that level was rare and he couldn't help but wonder who taught the boy.

There were many other things he wanted to know about the blonde, as well. The boy sometimes had very melancholic expressions that did not belong on a 12 year old. He hid it well with his cheerful personality but he slipped sometimes. He decided if the boy wanted to talk about it, he would.

Naruto was about to tuck in to his second bowl of ramen when he saw that Erza, who wasn't fighting Mira anymore, looked like she wanted to ask him something.

"There something you need, Erza?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He hooked his mask with a finger and dug into the ramen, face almost buried in the bowl. Suddenly the bowl was empty and he was looking rather satisfied.

She fidgeted a bit, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Ano… can I see your swords?"

Naruto blinked before a cheerful eye smile emerged onto his face, "Of course!" He said pulling them both from his belt. She took them carefully, looking at them with a strange gleam that slightly freaked Naruto out.

She admired the katana's sleek design, unique guard and well looked after blade. She marvelled the sakabatou's simplicity, colours and quality. She had a confused look when she saw the blade was on the wrong side, though.

"Why is the blade on the wrong side?" She asked.

"Hmm, it is only meant to disable, not cut. However, I can just coat my normal katana in ice to stop my attacks from being fatal. Takes a lot of control, though,"

"Why do you have this then?" She asked.

"Well it was a gift. I use it anyway, though,"

"Is there any drawbacks to it?" Erza asked curiously.

"Well, I never had to think about it before because I've only practised with it for a short amount of time. But…" His face adopted a thinking expression. "I noticed my battojutsu were slightly slower. For the sword itself, hmm… I guess it would be easier to break…" he trailed off.

"Why?" She questioned.

"It is the way it is made. It isn't cutting so there's a lot of force on it that wouldn't be there if it was cutting. The spine is also not as thick and sturdy as a regular katana. Understand?" Naruto explained. Erza nodded. She was impressed by the blonde's ability to analyse a weapon so quickly. She handed the weapons back to Naruto and he rested the on his lap.

"Do you have any other swords?" She asked excitedly. There wasn't anybody in the guild that was as enthusiastic about weapons as her, so having somebody to talk to about them was great.

"Yeah," he said as he requipped his two kodachis into his hands and handed to her. He watched in amusement as she marvelled at them.

"I don't really have any other swords other than a few other spare generic katanas. Any other blades I make out of ice," he said, wanting to keep the fact that he had yukianesa quiet for as long as possible.

"Can you help me with my swordsmanship?" she asked hopefully. She had never really asked for help from somebody around her age before, so she was slightly nervous.

"Sure!" he chirped cheerfully. "Anyway, that can wait until later. The mission board is getting updated and I want to go on a mission."

Mira growled a bit at the scene and stomped over to the blonde. She grabbed his ear and tugged him to the request board ignoring his pained grunts of 'ow'.

"You're coming on a mission with me and Lisanna," she demanded. Naruto paled a bit and nodded in agreement.

"What about Elfman?"

"He's going on a mission with Gray," she glared. "Is that a problem?"

"No," he complied immediately. She picked up a mission off the request board and took her hand off Naruto's ear. He sighed in relief. He couldn't help but ask her a question.

"Umm, Mira?" At her inquisitive look he continued. "Why do you want to go on a mission with me?" She glared, so he quickly added on. "Not that I have a problem with it…" he scratched the back of his neck whilst chuckling fearfully.

She huffed and turned away from him, a slight pink dusted her cheeks, not that Naruto could see this. "You're way too shady, flaky boy. For all I know you could be a threat!" she said stubbornly. Naruto sweatdropped slightly. 'Is that her way of saying that she wants to get to know me better?'

Naruto hummed in acceptance, not wanting to get on her bad side. "Right, what's the mission?"

"A small villiage near magnolia has some problems with some weak bandits. They should be no problem for us. The reward is 200,000 jewels,"

"Alright, when are we leaving?"

"About an hour… That's not a problem… is it?" She asked sweetly. Naruto shivered but answered anyway.

"No, I have most of my clothes in my requip space anyway…"

"Good," she said as he vanished from view. Lisanna walked up to her older sister, poking her fingers together.

"Why are you so mean to Naruto when you like him so much?" she asked innocently.

"I don't like that girly boy," she scowled giving Lisanna the demon glare. Lisanna paled and ran away, but Mira was chasing after her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! She squeaked as Mira chased around the guild.

**20 minutes later**

Naruto was walking towards the train station, planning to get there a bit early. He really didn't want to be late and risk awakening Mirajane's wrath. He closed his eyes and walked at a steady pace. The afternoon breeze felt nice on his face. Nothing could ruin his peace…

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he felt a _very _familiar magic signature near him. His head turned around to the alleyway. He could have sworn he saw glowing crimson eyes watching him. He flickered there, but all he saw was crows dispersing around him. His eyes widened as he felt something flying at him. He held his finger up as a kunai sailed through the air. His finger went through the ring of the kunai. He spun it around his digit and plucked the note off it. He read it and it only had 4 words on it.

'_Get stronger, little brother'_

Naruto clenched his fist. He decided to keep the kunai. He walked out the alleyway with a troubled expression on his face. 'Itachi…' he thought.

A man wearing standard lookin civilian clothes phased unnoticed onto a street on the other side of Magnolia. A small smile appeared on his face.

'_Keep on getting stronger, Naruto,' _He coughed up some blood. _'I will die by nobody's hand but your own,' _The man thought as his pupils swirled into a pinwheel.

**Shorter chapter here, mostly filler. I wanted to show how Naruto was fitting in to Fairy Tail before a small time-skip. I decided to give him an 'eternal rival' type rivalry with Gray, just because I wanted Naruto to do the 'cool and hip attitude' thing. As for his actual rival... he won't come in for a while. Clue: He's not going to be a member of Fairy Tail. He isn't a character from Fairy Tail or Naruto, either... hehe. Gonna be so much fun.**

**I'm having an internal debate about Naruto's split personality. It will be a big factor in his future. I was considering I wanted his dark side to refer to his normal side as 'brother' or not.**

**Once i've gotten to canon (Don't worry, i'm not stopping at canon) , i'm tempted to write an 'alternate path' for this story, where Naruto walks the path of an assassin in the fairy tail world. Would you read it? It'd feature a lot more of Naruto's split personality and brutal efficiency. **

**Thank you guys for your continued support. Reviews are always welcome ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9

It had been almost a year since Naruto had gotten that message from Itachi and he had taken it to heart. He had spent most of his free time training. It was just as harsh as when he was apprenticed to Jin, but if it meant that he could possibly get to see Itachi again, he'd do whatever it took.

He had completely mastered the sword style – he had known all of the techniques before, but he hadn't quite perfected them. He had worked himself to the bone and it had paid off. He could rightfully call himself a master swordsman. It sounded conceited to him; he was only thirteen.

He spent a lot of time working on his hand to hand. When he first joined, all he had was very solid basics with basically no holes. Jin beat them all away very harshly. He had built on them a lot and he had help with it from some of the older guild members.

His magic was good. It was no where near the level it could be and he supposed that was where the majority of his work was going to go past this point. He was a solid S-rank mage in skill. It was still unofficial and he guessed it would be for a while. There wasn't anybody else who was ready to take the S-class exam yet so he would wait – or hope he got tested in a different way.

On that mission that day, Mira had been curious as to what was up with the blonde. His whole demeanour had changed. He seemed much tenser and was really distracted. Over the year she had toned down on her attitude towards him slightly. He didn't seem to mind it, though, which she was happy about.

She had had shown a slight soft spot for him, usually only shown to her siblings. It necessarily soft… but she scolded him harshly when he trained too hard, showing poorly masked signs of concern.

"Naruto!" He was brought out of his thoughts as he realised he had zoned out. His gaze shifted to an irritated looking Erza Scarlet standing across him in the guild's training ground.

"Sorry, I zoned ou-," Je trailed off, raising an eyebrow at her attire. She was wearing a Cheetah print bikini top that showed off her developing bust, matching feline ears and short shorts. She was wielding two mid sized swords. "Never saw you as a cosplay person, Erza," He muttered, gaining a blush from her.

"S-shut up! I wanted to test my new armour out on you!" she retorted with a red face,

"Armour? Doesn't look like it covers up much to me," He said as he trailed off dreamily. "It reminds me of page 236 of Icha Icha tactics," he sighed in content. This gained a tick mark from Erza. Why the hell was he such a pervert? She had to admit, though, she was curious about the books…

"Whatever, lets just begin," She scowled as he nodded and requipped two kodachi in his hand.

She rushed at him with surprising speed as she thrust one blade at him. He deflected it easily with his right hand. As she followed up with a stab to his torso, he stepped to the side and delivered a knee to her stomach, increasing the damage with Erza's own momentum.

"That can't be it, Erza," he taunted as his eyes hardened. "Show me how much you've grown."

**About an hour later**

Naruto walked in the guild in front of a slightly beaten up Erza. He didn't have a mark on him and he went easy on Erza… easy by Jin's standards.

He blinked as a pink blur shot at him. "Fight me!" It called out. Naruto didn't move, he just flicked up the hilt of his katana that was in his belt and hit the target in the chin before it could touch him.

"Hey Natsu," he said as he looked at the boy who currently had his head stuck in the ceiling of the guild. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly whilst scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, Natsu…" Lisanna said tiredly. Gray laughed at his rival.

"Haha, you got hit good, Flame-brain," Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Have you forgotten all the times I schooled you, Gray?" Gray turned his head away from Naruto in embarrassment.

Mira walked over to the group, looking rather smug.

"You're looking pretty beat up, Erza. Getting weak?" She said tauntingly.

"What was that?" she challenged in a low tone.

"You heard me," she said smirking.

Naruto stood back when they started spewing insults at each other. He deliberately looked the other way and whistled; he wanted no part of this. Erza and Mirajane were scary enough alone, he didn't want to face both of their wraths.

Up on the second floor Laxus scoffed at the scene. "This guild is weak," he said darkly. Everybody heard though and looked up at him, slightly peeved off, but to afraid to do anything.

"Tch…" Naruto made the sound, scoffing at Laxus. They had never talked. Laxus was hardly ever at the guild, but his attitude pissed him off. Laxus heard at him and stared at him with a menacing expression.

"What was that?" He tested.

"Tch… wipe that look off your face, it's not intimidating," Naruto said with narrowed eyes. Laxus immediately scowled.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Laxus scowled. He sent a bullet of lightning at Naruto to intimidate him, but Naruto whipped his head to the side, letting it pass his head harmlessly. Laxus growled and turned his body into lightning and went to punch him. He was about to hit him as he re-materialised, but Naruto appeared behind him, back to back with his katana outstretched. He sheathed his sword slowly, the sheath still being in his belt.

As the katana clicked in the sheath, Laxus' shirt fell off his body, cut into three pieces. Naruto turned his head slightly so Laxus could see one of his eyes glowing red. A form of a demonic fox loomed over him as it seemed all the darkness was gathering around Naruto.

"Try that again… and I'll kill you," he threatened coldly. Everybody's eyes widened at the tone and killing intent. Nobody had ever seen Naruto like this before. A cold shiver ran through the guild as Naruto walked away.

"H-he's scarier than Erza and Mira," Gray stuttered out. Lisanna hid behind her sister's leg, scared at the atmosphere.

"You're going too far, Naruto!" Mira yelled. Naruto looked her in the eye and vanished. She blinked in confusion until she felt a prescence behind her that sent shivers up her spine.

"Is that what you think… _Little demon," _He said the last part condescendingly and vanished again.

"Is this really Naruto?" Mira asked herself, shaking slightly.

"Stop this, Naruto," Makarov said sternly. Suddenly the killing intent vanished and Naruto was clutching his head in pain. Laxus seethed and was abut to attack Naruto, but Makarov gave him a disapproving look. He huffed and stormed away.

"Sorry, Ero-jiji… I don't know what came over me," he apologised, sounding truly regretful.

"Its fine… talk to me in my office," Makarov said gently.

"Yeah…" he trailed off. He followed Makarov in his office and they both sat down.

"Was that the split personality, you told me about," Makarov asked seriously.

"Yeah," he replied looking down ashamed.

"Hold your head up boy," Makarov instructed. Naruto looked up, looking at Makarov's eyes. He saw… understanding in them? "You've held it back for so long, that's something to be proud of,"

"Thank you," Naruto replied gratefully. Makarov looked at the boy with pride in his eyes.

"You said it only comes out in extremely stressful situations. You've never reacted to Laxus before, what's on your mind boy?"

Naruto was silent, deciding whether or not he should tell the master. Some words rung through his head that he told Erza. _'you don't have to suffer alone,' _he replayed in his mind._ 'I've been so foolish, ignoring my own words…' _

"It's my older brother figure…" He sighed deeply. "Its just… when I was training with shishou, he was my only friend. He was extremely talented and his strength is something to be feared. One day he killed his parents and just disappeared off the radar," Naruto said. Makarov's eyes widened in horror.

"About 2 weeks after I joined I felt him following me, but disappeared before I could reach him. He threw a kunai at me with a message attached, saying get stronger. I've felt him following me over the year but I haven't been able to catch him… I nust want to talk to him. I don't know what the hell goes through his head…"

Makarov nodded sagely. "I see," He looked at the young blonde. "People do not do things without reason. He'll be found when he wants to be found. Just be patient and wait for the day to come," he advised.

Naruto sighed. "I know, its just… whatever, I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders…"

Makarov smiled. "Anything for one of my children. This wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about though." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Whaddya want with me, ero-jiji?"

Makarov smiled. "Its about a promotion to S-class." He said. "There aren't any other candidates, so I have to test you another way," he said. Naruto was curious about the test.

"So I've decided that I'll send you on an S-class mission with a current S-class mage to evaluate your abilities and then you'll fight him…" Naruto paled. Makarov wasn't going to pair him with Laxus after that scene. That only left one person.

No.

Oh please, _no._

"Don't tell me I'll have to fight Gildarts," he groaned. He valued his life… and his swords. He really did not want to deal with this.

Another side of him, the foolish, hard headded and stubborn side of him wanted to test himself against Fairy Tail's ace.

Makarov nodded sympathetically "You will. Unless you don't want to?"

"No, no, I'll do it," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm strangely excited for this, I can't believe myself…"

Makarov gave a hearty chuckle. "Don't worry, lad. I wouldn't let you do it if I didn't think you could pass. You are a talented young man,"

Naruto smiled gratefully and blushed under his mask. "Thank you."

"No problem, now go. The test will be when Gildarts gets back," Naruto nodded and walked out of the office. When he walked out the door, he was met by slightly fearful looks. He noticed that Laxus wasn't in the guild anymore and shrugged. His gaze travelled over the guild and he sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry for that, guys," he apologised. "I've been holding back my emotions for a while. I guess I just snapped," he said, looking at the ground. His eyes widen in surprise when he felt his back being patted. He looked up to see Wakaba patting his back along with Macao.

"No problem, kid. It happens to the best of us. You're pretty scary, though…" he chuckled nervously.

"Only when I want to be," he retorted.

Natsu looked unaffected by the whole thing. "NARUTO! That was awesome! Teach me how to cut people's clothes off!" He yelled, causing Erza to bop him on the head.

"While I don't agree with how you went about it, Laxus had it coming," Erza said calmly. Mira was blushing up a storm. She wasn't able to look him in the eye. Truthfully, she found that part of Naruto… attractive. She grudgingly admitted that she found him attractive normally, but something about his darker side was _hot._

He wasn't flaky or girly (not that he was in the first place, Mira just wouldn't admit that to him) when he was like that. His red eyes stirred up something demonic in her and him calling her _Little demon _was strangely appealing.

Lisanna, over her previous fear gasped. "You liiiiiiike him," she sang.

"Don't roll your tongue!" She snapped. Gaining control over herself she smirked at Naruto.

"Maybe you do have a backbone, goldilocks,' Naruto deadpanned _'she's totally bipolar… not that I have room to talk'_

He hid a small smile "Whatever," he said, whipping out his Icha Icha. "I'm going to be doing some training,"

**The next week**

Naruto had his eyes closed as he leant on his sword. A blank expression was on his face as he breathed steadily. The Gildarts shift had been activated. It was time.

"You okay, Naruto?" Mira asked. "You've been doing nothing but train all week and you're usually reading your porn by now."

"Yes," he said calmly. "Never better," He plucked his katana out of his belt and held it in front of him horizontally, drawing the blade slightly. He closed it with a click and vanished and appeared in front of the master.

"Is it time?" He inquired.

"Yes, do your best," Makarov encouraged.

"Thank you,"

Gray walked over to the table where Cana, Levy and Erza were sitting.

"Hey Guys," he said, eyeing the blonde. "What's up with Naruto?" He asked, making them all have thoughtful looks appear on their faces.

"I'm not sure. He hasn't been on a mission all week, he has just been training," Erza said.

"Its freaking me out, he's been completely serious. No porn, not teasing, no zoning out. I've never seen him so focused," Gray pointed out.

"Well-," Erza was interrupted when Gildarts walked through the wall of the Guild. He chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"GILDARTS!" Everybody in the guild shouted, happy that their ace was back.

"Hi guys," he greeted with a small wave. "I'm not staying long,"

"Master," he continued. "Is it time?" At Makarov's nod, he smiled. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by Natsu jumping at him.

"Gildarts! Fight me!"Gildarts didn't even look his way, he just batted him away with his fist.

"Not now, Natsu," everybody facepalmed at Natsu. "Naruto." He said gaining the boy's attention. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he replied. His eyes were determined as he walked up to the man. He ruffled his hair slightly and Naruto rolled his eyes. "Let's go then, brat," he said cheerfully. Naruto nodded and they both walked out the guild. Gildarts created another hole through the wall. Everybody sweatdropped at the ace's stupidity. They were shook out if their stupor when Lisanna spoke up.

"Master, where are they going?" She asked curiously.

"Gildarts is evaluating his performance on an S-class mission," he answered. He saw no problem in telling the others now that Naruto wasn't around to get distracted.

"Huh?" all the younger generation said except for Natsu who had flames coating his fists.

"GRAMPS! Let me go on an S class mission!" He shouted.

"No, Natsu. He's going on one because he is being tested for S-Class,"

"What!? Why?He uses the same magic as stripper here and I'm much stronger than him! Let me be S-Class!"

"What was that candlestick?" Gray growled, getting in Natsu's face.

"You heard me frosty!"

"STOP!" Makarov shouted. "You're not ready yet Natsu,"

"Aww come on!"

"No means no," Makarov denied. Natsu pouted and looked away.

"It makes sense now," Erza intervened. "He's been acting so focused because of the S-Class Exams,"

"Ahh, were getting surpassed by the kids," Macao deflated.

"Maybe we're losing our touch," Wakaba deflated similarly. Rain clouds formed over their heads as they wailed.

**With Naruto and Gildarts**

They had both gotten on the train leading to the job's destination. Naruto stared at his hands as he tensed them. He soothed his magic signature as he breathed in and out slowly.

'_I'm getting stronger, Itachi.' He _thought as he looked up_' I hope I'm making you proud, shishou… father. I'll surpass you both one day.'_ His eyes hardened.

"Gildarts," he said, gaining the older mage's attention. Gildarts had been watching Naruto as he was thinking to himself. _'That's a good expression you have on your face...' _He smirked inwardly. The raw determination was nothing to scoff at.

"What's the mission?" He asked.

"Its to take dowm a dark guild. They aren't particularly strong, but they aren't weak, either." At Naruto's nod he continued. "Usually, I would be looking at your mindset on a mission, but Master gave me a report on most of your missions so far. Your tactics are perfect and you're very good at avoiding direct confrontations. Apart from a few dissected and frozen buildings, you haven't had much collateral damage. Based on that, I'd say you're ready. However, as an S-Class mage, sometimes things don't go as expected, so I want you to take this dark guild down without any stealth or plans… just your skills," Gildarts smirked at the surprised face of Naruto. He grinned further when he saw it morph into an expression of excitement.

"Wow, this should be fun," He paused momentarily. "are you just trying to get information about how I fight?" he asked with narrowed eyes. Gildarts laughed at that.

"No. Well, maybe a little. You're years too early to challenge me though brat."

**At the dark guild.**

Naruto and Gildarts neared the guild. They got a good look at it. It had one floor, but it was moderately sized. It was a step above all the cheap, worn out and neglected ones he had been to before. There was a large tree next to the building that shadowed it. It gave it a dark look.

The guild was called 'The skeleton's lair'. Naruto inwardly snorted at the name. By the day was done this guild would be dead. (Not literally, he reminded himself). He walked up to the tree, Gildarts was following behind him, analysing his actions.

"Like I'm going in the front door," muttered Naruto incredulously. He walked up to the tree and slid in a battojutsu stance. With a swift slash the tree fell downslowly, in the direction of the bulding. It hit the front wall and took it down with it.

'_I didn't even see him draw his sword,' _Gildarts thought with caution. _'Smart, too. You never know what traps are set up,'_

"Who did that!? A sleazy looking man with greasy black hair said. He was wearing a studded leather jacket and had on blue jeans. He was in the centre of the guild, right in front of the bar. He scowled as he gripped a sword. "Come out, you cowa-!" He was interrupted by his head being grabbed and drove into the ground violently.

"Boss!" The men on the guild shouted. There were about 40 of them. They split off into groups. About 15 men wielding matching magical swords appeared to his left side. There was another group of 12 mages in front of him and 14 to his right.

"He's just a kid!" Some people shouted when they saw him. Naruto sighed as he built up magic power in the tip of his blade that was sheathed. He walked forward slowly, eyes glowing red. His split personality hadn't shown up, he was just using it as an intimidation technique. Gradually, his walk sped up into as fast and low run whilst he had his sword prepared for a sword drawing technique. Magic circles appeared around him, but he had already out ran them before they could do anything. As he appeared in front of the group in front of him, he drew his sword in horizontal arc. A wave of ice shot out of his blade and knocked them all back, breaking the rest of the front wall and more. The dark mage's that were not on the receiving end of the attack all found themselves sweating.

Naruto put his sword away into his belt. Everybody was slightly confused. He held his hand out, palm facing upwards. A magic seal appeared underneath the feet of the mages on the right side of him. He flicked his wrist up and 14 mages were enclosed in an ice pillar.

He body flickered behind the group wielding magical swords, punching one in the spine causing him to fall over. He chopped the neck of another dark mage and threw him into the group causing half of them to lose their balance and fall. By now, they knew he was behind them. He dodged the incoming sword slashes carelessly as he punched one overweight man with a Mohawk in the gut, twisted around and swept another person's feet out. He sighed as he crouched down and put his palm to the ground, causing everybody in his vicinity to get frozen.

Spreading out his senses to see if anybody else was in there, he felt there was nobody else. He froze anybody who wasn't already and flickered out of the guild. He was met by an impressed looking Gildarts. "Good job, kid." He said casually. The dark mages were not very impressive at all, but the way he dealt with them was. It was clean and quick.

"They weren't all that strong," he waved off, although, he inwardly beamed at the praise.

"Still, not enough to beat me," he said, walking away.

"Tch, cocky old man," Naruto muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

**The next day**

Naruto and Gildarts were standing across from each other in a field just ouside of magnolia, staring each other down. Gildarts smirked. "I hate holding back," he said as he eyed Naruto.

"That is a shame," Naruto replied. "I really would like to stay in one piece today,"

Gildarts grinned, but didn't say anything more on the subject. "Show me that you're ready to be S-class," he said as he stood still.

"Let's go!" Naruto said, giving Gildarts a thumbs up. Gildarts waited a second before nodding. He looked at Naruto who hadn't moved yet and raised an eyebrow.

"Make your move," he said as Naruto smashed his hands on the floor. A massive seal formed in front of him and out puffed a 100ft fox with nine tails. It glared down at the man and let out a beastly roared. Gildarts' eyes widened when he saw it but blinked before he realised what it was. _'Illusion' _he thought as he broke it. He saw Naruto in front of him with his leg encased in ice that was shaped in a spike. He held hid hand out as he blocked it with crash magic, causing a massive explosion of ice to shatter about. He blinked when a magic seal formed to the side of him and a massive dragon's head flew at him.

"**DISASSEMBLE!" **hr called out as he held his hand out to the side and caused the attack to dispel.

'_That's why I didn't want to use my sword…' _Naruto thought as he flickered behind Gildarts.

Gildarts blinked when Naruto disappeared. He turned his torso around as he blocked a rapid sword slash with his bare hands. He deflected a mad barrage of slashes with two fingers, as he turned on his heel.

'_Holy shit!'_ Naruto thought. _"How the hell is he doing that?"_ He thought as he received a solid punch in the gut, sending him flying backwards into a set of trees. Naruto stood up shakily and grinned.

"Wow, that hurt," he whispered to himself. He clenched his sword tightly as he rushed at Gildarts. He send a spinning kick at his, which he blocked, but Naruto used the force of the push back to rotate and send a battojutsu slash at Gildarts whilst rotating. He was surprised for this, but not unprepared as he whipped his head back. However, he was unprepared for the sheath that was planted in his ribs. The blow caused him to stagger back.

He looked at the boy who was on one knee and had his sword outstretched behind him and the sheath held to the side of him. _'He hit me…' _he thought. He felt a bruise forming on his ribs as Naruto muttered his attack name. "Sword's shadow," He said as he slid out of the stance and sent a sweep kick to Gildarts. It hit, but oit didn't knock him down. Gildarts sent a punch at Naruto, but he dodged on the inside in retaliation. He crossed his arm over Gildarts' outstretched arm and hit him with a cross counter. Gildarts stumbled back whilst Naruto bounced on his feet a bit. Naruto disaapeared in a shukuchi and the ground was upturned as Gildarts looked around.

Naruto appeared beside Gildarts but Gildarts caught on and went to attack him. He vanished again as he appeared behind Gildarts. He went to slash at him, but Gildarts knew where he was and went to attack him again. Before Naruto could get hit he vanished again, appearing in front of Gildarts, however, he was crouched in a low battojuts stance and as Gildarts' fist was about to hit him, he re-appeared behind him sheathing his sword "Judgement: Snow storm," he said as Gildarts' was encased in Ice. However, before Naruto's sword was completely sheathed, the ice shattered and Gildarts was standing there looking a little roughed up, but otherwise fine.

'_I did all that and he's barely injured' _Naruto thought dejectedly.

"That was pretty good," Gildarts said. '_Crap, my side hurts,' _he thought inwardly, although, it didn't show on his face. "You know to press your advantage…. But its not enough," He said as he began to glow white. Rubble rose off the ground, he earth quaked and his magical power soared. _Power. _That's all Naruto felt.

Gildarts' hair raised floated, he's eyes had a demonic red glow and white magical power shot up in the air making a massive beam lift up into the air. Everybody in Magnolia saw it and felt the earth shaking and they began to panic. Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head and he took a step back, falling to his ass as he did so.

"WHAT THE HELL?" He shouted. "This magical power is insane,"

Gildarts continued to pour iut magical power causing the ground to shake more and more.

"Fuck… I'm done," Naruto conceded. _'He was toying with me…' _Naruto thought bitterly.

Suddenly, the magical power calmed down an Gildarts' looks turned normal again.

"You pass," he said, smiling.

"WHAT?"

**Fairy Tail Guild**

It was a rare occasion where everybody was peacefully sitting down, socialising and generally acting civilised. Erza was sharpening her swords, Cana was playing with her cards and Makarov was drinking a beer.

They all blinked when the earth started shaking a bit.

"What the hell is that?" Gray asked. He was panicking slightly.

"That's…. magical power," Mira answered. They all tensed when the earth started shaking violently, knocking over more than a few things.

'_So its done' Makarov thought. Whilst taking a sip of his beer._

"Is that… Gildarts'?" Wakaba asked cautiously.

"HOLY SHIT!" Was the general cry of the guild as the full force of the Magical power was felt.

**Wth Naruto and Gildarts**

Naruto walked into the guild holding a very badly bruised stomach behind Gildarts who was a little roughed up. Everybody was silent as the walk. Naruto gave a weak grin as he saluted the guild. "Yo," he said casually.

"Master, he passed," Gildarts said. Makarov gave a wide grin as he called out to the guild.

"We've got a new S-Class, everybody!" He called out holding a beer in his hand. Everybody cheered, but before they could celebrate, Naruto was pulled away by a very pissed off looking Mirajane to the infirmary. Naruto paled, he was no condition to receive her wrath.

She sat him down on one of the beds as she glared at him.

"Idiot! You fought Gildarts, didn't you?" Not giving him a chance to answer, she continued. "You could have gotten seriously hurt!" She scolded. She huffed and turned away with a little blush. "Not that I care," she added weakly.

"Sorry…" Naruto started, but was interrupted by her gaze softening.

"Well done," she congratulated. "Let me bandage up your arm, it has a pretty bad graze on it," She demanded.

Naruto nodded blankly. Girls were so confusing.


	10. Chapter 10

A fourteen year old Naruto pushed open the doors to a guild. He had changed a little, but not much. He had replaced his blue kimono top with a white one and grown out his hair a little. It now reached the bottom of his neck and he had his bangs swept to the right side of forehead so it didn't fall into his eyes. He had grown a bit, now standing at 5"6. He wasn't wearing his arm guard on his right arm today, but was because he was injured. His arm was bandaged up because of an injury he received on a mission.

He was caught off guard by a monster's attack whilst he was clearing them out from a place nearby a village that had been terrorised by them. He thought he had defeated it and moved on to another one, but he hadn't. He had sensed the attack just in time to avoid a much more severe injury and spun around to block it with his arm, but it still hurt. He didn't have a large amount of upper body strength, Mirajane and even Erza was stronger than him in that field. He did have a lot of lower body strength, though, that more than made up for it.

He walked through the door and realised it wasn't particularly noisy and there weren't tables and chairs being thrown around the place for a change. He raised an eyebrow. Why the hell was it so quiet? He looked around the guild and noticed that Natsu wasn't there. _'So that's why' _He thought. Natsu had been getting more and more rowdy and ever since Naruto hit S-Class, Natsu had been challenging him to more and more fights. However, when Gray was in the area, challenges generally lessened.

Thinking about Gray, Naruto's relationship with him had changed quite a bit. He had taken to helping Gray with his ice make magic. Naruto may not have used Ice-make as much as arctic atmosphere, but he was still pretty good at it, especially static ice make. Gray had become something of a younger brother figure to Naruto and they talked a lot more than before. When Naruto found out that Gray's teacher was Ur, he was surprised. He had never met her, but his master had spoken about her in high regard and there were very few people he spoke about in high regard.

"Yo, Naruto. Good job!" the master greeted, giving him a cheerful smile. He was stood on the bar with a beer in one hand and waved with the other. He was proud of the boy, he was the youngest S-Class, but he was coping with the responsibilities admirably and represented the guild well. He had gained two nicknames: **'Ice Fox' **and **'God Leg'. **He was more widely known as the Ice fox, but God leg was given to him when he performed the shukuchi in an escort mission and the client saw him and spread the name around.

He had opened up a bit to him, telling him of his teacher and time with him. Makarov was surprised that Jin had changed so much. He remembered meeting the man about 40 years ago and he was… batshit insane. He was a usually calm and collected person, but when his brother was involved he completely changed. Makarov wasn't sure if Jin wanted to kill his brother or make love to him. Pushing aside that thought, he was glad that he had changed before he had died…

There was, surprisingly, one more person who Naruto had opened up to.

"Oi, goldilocks," a voice called out before Naruto could reply to the master. The girl's blue eyes gazed a hole at Naruto who had paled slightly.

"Hey Mira," he said nervously, sweating a bit. Mira had grown a lot. Her bust had definitely gotten larger and she wore a black tank top that flaunted it well. It left her belly exposed and she wore a miniskirt and high heeled boots. Her ponytail was tied in a crimson ribbon and her white hair had gotten a bit longer. She still kept her gothic accessories.

"Don't 'Hey Mira' me"!" She fumed, storming towards Naruto. She grabbed him by the ear as she pulled him towards a seat. She sat him down, violently as she stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips. "What the hell is this?" she asked as she gently grabbed his bandaged arm.

"Uh… I let my guard down for a second…" He answered. He didn't want to get Mira mad. "Its nothing really," he dismissed not looking in her eyes.

"Don't its nothing me, flake," she huffed. "Let your guard down and you could get seriously hurt one day!"

He chuckled a bit. "You're always taking care of me," he said. She looked away a bit, embarrassed that he thought that. A pretty blush spread across her cheeks.

"If I don't do it, nobody will, you reckless idiot! Its not that I care or anything, but if you died then Lisanna would cry," she glared, sending shivers down Naruto's spine. "Don't get the wrong idea!" she said making Naruto raise his hands in a surrendering position.

"I won't, I won't," he stood up, walking away to talk to Makarov. He turned his head slightly. "Thanks, Mira," he said with an eye-smile. \when he turned around she let a small smile cross her face.

She had grown to really like Naruto. He had toned down on the porn and she realised that he only really read it to deal with his stress. He had to worry about suppressing his split personality and he had his fair share of sadness to deal with. He had opened up to her a bit. They were friends and talked to each other quite a bit. She didn't really openly admit it, but she enjoyed his company. They had went on a few missions together and she was impressed by his strength. Not once had she seen him struggle, but she had never been on an S-Class mission with him, so there wasn't really much to challenge him in those missions. Still, he was quick and efficient. It really reminded her of a ninja. The fact that he used ice kunais and shuriken sometimes kind of reinforced that thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she overheard Wakaba talking to Macao. "Who would have guessed that Mira was so tsundere?" He sniggered. Macao laughed in response but before he could say anything in reply he felt the aura of death creeping upon him. A cold feeling invaded his soul; His hands trembled madly; and he started to sweat buckets. He wasn't sure if he was going to make it past today.

"What. Was. That?" Mira tested. She was looming over them and she looked about 100ft tall. A dark purple aura was pouring off her.

"Ahh, Mira, Mira calm do-," Wakaba started, but he was interrupted by a heavy beating along with Macao.

"I didn't even say anything!" he pleaded as he was beat into the ground, anime tears running down his face

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A portly man of about 40 crawled into his bed with a satisfied sigh. He had curly brown hair, a grand moustache and 3 chins of fat under his real chin. He was wearing blue striped pyjamas that were baggy on his plump frame. He was the mayor of a small town near the capital. He sighed in content as he sprawled himself out on his king-size bed and silk covers. He had just had a very _productive_ meeting with a group of bandits. He would allow them to operate near his village for a fee. He didn't get any tourists and the village needed money.

However, he couldn't just invest this money into the town. _Oh no. _That'd be much, much to suspicious. He'd have to hold onto it himself, just to be safe and if it was _accidentally _spent on luxury items for himself then what could anybody do about it? He snuggled in his sheets in content. _'Things couldn't' get any better' _he thought as he closed his eyes.

For the last time.

Glowing red eyes stared at him from the corner of the room. They watched him drift into a deep sleep stoically. The man took one step forward. Two steps forward. He pulled a kunai out of his sleeve. Three steps, now. He stopped in front of the man's bed, covered his mouth with his hand. It didn't elicit any type of reaction.

'_Pathetic,' _the man scoffed inwardly. He sunk the kunai in the man's jugular, ending his life and disappeared in a flock of crows.

'_This is so dull. I need to test my full capacity,' _the man thought, now outside. "You're getting stronger Naruto… soon," he whispered. The moonlight shone on his face, revealing him to be a young man with deep tear troughs and spinning red sharingan eyes. Itachi Uchiha.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was at in his apartment. It was rather plain, only having one bedroom, basic furniture and essentials. He didn't really care what his home was like. He was sitting down in the in front of his couch, leaning on it. He gazed around the room. It was rather plain. The only decorations he had were three framed pictures. One was of him sitting on his dad's shoulders, both wearing matching grins. His mother was holding his dad's hand with a pretty smile gracing her face.

The second picture was of him and Jin. Jin had his hand rested on his head with a stoic expression on his face and Naruto looked rather irritated and was looking away from the camera.

The last was of his mother whilst she was pregnant, her and his father together looking rather happy.

'_Itachi,' _Naruto thought. _'I wonder what you're doing now,' _He stared down at the sword in his lap. It was Yukianesa, his master's sword. He still hadn't used it or revealed the fact that he had it. He didn't know when he was going to start using it, but figured he would know when the time came. He rubbed his hand over the sheath. "What would you say now, master?" he mused allowed. He grunted and stood up, shaking off his thoughts.

"I want to test my skills," he muttered, thinking back to the guild. Erza and Mira were rivals, Gray and Natsu were too. He thought that a rivalry was stupid at first, but having somebody to compete with you was great. He remembered something Itachi told him.

"_People with strength often become arrogant and withdrawn,"_

They were very wise that he took to heart and constantly took them to heart. However, it was a difficult task to accomplish when you don't have somebody that you can constantly compare yourself to. The only one who was around his level in the guild was Laxus, but Naruto wanted nothing to do with that fool. He was the person who proved Itachi's words true in Naruto's opinion. Gildarts was too strong and Erza and Mirajane were not strong enough.

He just wanted somebody to push him to his limits.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A group of men wearing matching uniforms stood outside of a door during the night. They had traditional samurai clothes on: gray kimono top, matching hakama under a blue Haori with white trimmings.

The man standing at the front had a triangular, defined, thin face. His hair was pulled into a high ponytail and he had a white headband on. Antenna like bangs rested on it. His piercing yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. He was wielding a katana. This was the captain of the third unit of the shinsengumi, Saitou Hajime. He crouched in a low stance with his sword parallel to the ground in his left hand. He held his right hand forward and concentrated his magic power.

He dashed forward like a bullet, and thrusted his sword through the wall of the building, penetrating it with ease. He flew forward, his sword burying itself in a man's head and he kept on travelling, skewering three other people as he charged forward. He glowed yellow as the rest of the men flooded in, cutting down anybody in the building with ease. He turned into a wolf as he dashed through the house with a solid push. Glowing a yellow again and turning into a human he thrust his sword in another man's head, pivoting on his foot, he cut down the two people standing next to him.

He glared at the dead bodies that were streen through the seemingly normal 2-story house. Aiming his sword up, he thrusted up, magic extending his blade's length, piercing the ceiling and causing a throaty scream to sound throughout the house and a female to panick and squeal in fear. He rolled his eyes as he walked out the house and waited for his men to finish the job. Lighting a cigarette, he took a puff of it.

'_I wish they put up more of a fight…_' he thought._ 'I haven't had a good fight in years. Still they needed to die by the code of the shinsengumi… 'slay all evil immediately',' _

He took another puff of his cigarette, waiting for his squad to come, seemingly blending into the shadows, only his eyes were visible in the dark. A minute or so he was joined by his team. They had just cleared out a brothel. It was set up in a house on the outskirts of a village bordering Crocus.

"Good job," he said as he flicked his ash off his cigarette. "The job is done. The clean up crews will be coming in 5 minutes. I trust you wiped the memories of the women in there," his yellow eyes stared at his subordinates with a hardened gaze.

"Yes, Captain," they said in unison.

"Good," He smirked. He sank into his shadow slowly, the rest of his team mirroring the action.

**This is a short chapter, I just wanted to get this out before I have to take a short break. It was rather fillerish, but it had some important things in it. Next chapter is a time skip again to where he is 15. Its where the juicy stuff comes in. It may be out next week, i'm not sure really. I'm planning out another Naruto/Fairy Tail crossover at the moment so updates will be slower. Sorry.**

**Thank you for reading my story and feel free to review =)**


	11. Chapter 11

A 15 year old Naruto sighed in content as he flicked through the pages of the sorcerer's weekly magazine. He skimmed and skimmed looking for the correct page. _'This magazine sucks' _he thought, however, he still had a grin on his face. '_There'_ he internally cheered when he found the page.

The pin up girl section.

He eagerly looked at the magazine in front of him and he was rewarded by quite a lovely sight. Karen Lilica had her back to the camera in a skimpy red bikini. Her green hair cascaded down her back and her face was turned to the camera showing her rouged lips and half lidded eyes. He took the time to admire and curves and her smooth looking skin, blissfully aware of his impending doom.

Mira was looking over his shoulder with a twitching eyebrow. She was raging. How dare he look at another girl…. She didn't care anyway she tried to convince herself. It didn't work. He's single, he can look at whoever he wants, she tried to dismiss. It didn't work. He's an idiot, he needs to be punished, she justified. That did work.

Cracking her knuckles slightly, she gave a sweet smile. "Oh, Naruto," she called, getting his attention. He turned around with a cheery smile, "He-," he was cut off by a fist impacting across her face as she growled. She punched and punched until he was a heap on the floor.

"What was that for?" he cried out weakly on the floor. Mira just huffed and walked away, turning on her heel. "The hell id her problem?" he muttered, dusting himself off as he stood up. The guild just facepalmed at his denseness. Most people were aware that Mira liked Naruto, but nobody really had the balls to speak up about it.

"Maybe she wants a fish!" Happy exclaimed rather unhelpfully. Saruto sweatdropped slightly.

"Right, I'm sure that's it Happy," he said sarcastically. He hopped up and down a bit, regaining his bearings. Blinking, he stepped to the side, avoiding a flying pink bullet.

"FIGHT ME!" Natsu shouted, fists ablaze. Dodging the punch thrown at him, Naruto punched him in the gut, sending him crashing into the ground. Naruto sighed.

"Seriously," he muttered. Hearing a giggle, he looked at the source and saw Lisanna with her hand on her mouth stifling laugher. "What?" he asked irritated.

"It's just the look on your face, Naruto," she said. Naruto rolled his eyes and smiled a bit.

"Whatever," he said, fiddling with the hilt of his sword a bit. "What the hell is up with your sister?" he asked. Lisanna giggled again.

"Don't worry about her, she is just moody," she lied.

"You're telling me," he breathed under his breath. He ran his hand through his bangs and grunted.

"Naruto!" The master said from the bar. He turned his head in that direction and saw the master beckoning him over. He walked up to him and leant on the bar on his right side heavily.

"At your service, ero-jiji," he grinned at the master's irritated look.

"Brats these days have no respect," he whined with a slight pout that look slightly strange on an old man. Naruto chuckled at Makarov. He handed him a slip of paper and Naruto looked at it with curiousity.

"A mission?" He asked. Makarov nodded.

"It is a joint escort mission with Lamia Scale. It is an S-Class mission," He replied. Naruto's eyebrows shot up. Escort missions were never really S-Class. Even escorting VIPS were only usually A-Class missions.

"Why's it S-Class?"

"Hmm, don't know," Makarov said. "Well the man is a very important man. He is one of the richest men in Fiore. He is a businessman; he sells jewellery and has investments in a lot of other major companies. He rarely goes out in public, so now would be the perfect time to end his life as apparently his house is impenetrable," Naruto scoffed. Nothing was impenetrable, just really difficult to get into. If it was impenetrable, there would be no way out. Makarov continued. "And he is really paranoid."

"Who is he?" Naruto prodded.

"Diamond Goldbuster is his name," causing Naruto's eyes to widen. This would be harder tham he thought. The man was rolling in the money and more than his fare share of enemies. He destroyed other business mercilessly, financially anyway, and pissed off a lot of people. Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ugh, seriously?" Naruto groaned. "I don't need this shit."

Makarov grinned.

**The next day**

Naruto sat on the train, not wearing his usual attire. He, instead, was wearing a black suit with a wait shirt and red tie that fitted him perfectly. He still had his mask on and he was holding his Katana in his hand.

This job would be troublesome. Very very troublesome. His client's name was Diamond Goldbuster for God's sake, if he didn't run into a shit ton of trouble then the client was going to aggravate him to hell.

The client was a very fishy person. He had only come into the scene about 5 years ago, yet already was one of Fiore's richest men, that alone made him feel wary of him. The fact that he never came out in public made him even more suspicious and he hired two S-Class mages to escort him to a rather simple business meeting. This was excessive, extremely so. It was like he was expecting to be targeted, but he wouldn't be targeted for no reason. Men richer and with more enemies than him went out much more than him went out with far less protection and were fine.

This led him to believe that he was expected to be targeted.

And this thought unsettled Naruto. Its rare that even with grudges, business men are assassinated by their rivals. What did he do it invoke such a wrath? Maybe he provoked somebody he shouldn't have or had more enemies than Naruto believed.

It wasn't so far-fetched. He had gotten rich abnormally quickly and everything he touched that wasn't his went to shit. Who's to say he didn't have some help from the underground? The magic council would let it slide as it brought more money to them. This meant that they wouldn't set their dark guilds on him, but there is one group who didn't give a damn about any of that. A group that was known to few, but feared by the few that knew of them.

The shinsengumi.

Naruto only knew of them through his master. They were like a police force that actually did things. They were unofficial, but the magic council knew they existed and allowed them to exist as long as they didn't take direct action against them. Who funded them were an unknown, but they were not to be messed with.

Naruto tensed a bit. He didn't want to have to face a member of the group, but would if he had to. They could kill the client after he finished the mission, for all he cared, but he wasn't going to let the master down.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked to the meeting point, a luxurious mansion in border of the city. It was built with red bricks and was massive. It had rows and rows of windows and the front garden was beautifully cared for. Lush green grass, a large tree to the left of the garden and multicoloured lines of flowers bordering the path. It was tranquil.

Naruto stood in front of the house waiting for his companion for the mission. He didn't have to wait long as a man wearing a matching suit walked towards him. He was tall and muscular. His shoulders were extremely broad and he towered over Naruto's 5"8 form.

He was very bald and he had two spots above his eyes and no eyebrows. He greeted Naruto with a smile as he talked to him. "Hello, I take it you are my partner for this mission?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. Naruto Uzumaki, S-Class mage of Fairy Tail," he greeted with an eye smile.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-dono," Naruto raised an eyebrow at the suffix, he spoke like a samurai. "I am Jura Neckis, S-Class mage of Lamia Scale," He introduced himself.

"It is an honour to meet the famed Iron-rock," Naruto said respectfully.

"Likewise, Naruto-dono. Your reputation as the Ice fox certainly is impressive for one your age," He replied humbly. They both walked along the path towards the client's house. Naruto had his sword in his requip space, not wanting to look like a threat. Whilst he was walking he called out to Jura.

"Jura-dono," he called out, returning the suffix. The man was so polite to him, he could at least return the favour. He gained the older man's attention as he continued. "I am sure you have realised that there is something off about this mission." Jura nodded, it was rather suspicious.

"I have a bad feeling about his mission, be on guard," he warned.

They reached the door and rang the doorbell and waited. They had to wait about 5 minutes, but Naruto was being patient… outwardly. Inwardly he was fuming. Eventually, the door was opened to reveal a man with pale skin standing behind two generic, sunglasses and suit wearing bodyguards.

The man was wearing a purple suit under a fur coat and had a feathered matching hat. He had on silver sunglasses and had buck teeth. He was wearing copius amounts of jewellery, chains, rings, bracelets, he sounded like a wallet full of coins every time he took a step. He had a pompus look on his face as he looked at the two mages.

"A child and a monk, what did I pay for?" he sneered. Naruto's eyebrow twitched. He was tempted to leave this guy for dead…

"We are S-Class mages of our respective guilds, Diamond-dono," Jura said calmly, ignoring the monk comment.

"Very well," he said, not bothering to learn their names. "I expect you to protect me with your lives," he said, walking off towards the magic car. Naruto bit his tongue, lest he say something he regret. _'What an ass dattebayo!' _he fumed inwardly_. _Jura stayed calm as he walked into the magic car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The meeting was extremely dull and uneventful. They had a silencing jutsu-shiki placed up so the bodyguards couldn't hear the conversation. There was no speaking between the guards and Naruto had never felt more bored in his life. Spreaddimg out his senses he felt nothing. Why was this an S-Class mission? On top of it the meeting place was extremely shady. An abandoned warehouse? Seriously?

Naruto sighed in relief as the client walked out of the silencing runes. "It's time to go," Diamond said, not even turning his head to towards them.

"Thank you…!" Naruto breathed under his breath, gaining a small chuckle from Jura. Naruto tensed. This gained Jura's attention.

"What is it, Naruto-dono?" Jura asked.

"I think I felt a signature, but it disappeared immediately," He said with furrowed brows. He requipped into his standard clothes with his katana and sakabatou at his waist. Walking infront of the building first he glanced around suspiciously.

"If somebody comes, take the client and go," Naruto said sternly. "I'll handle this,"

Suddenly, he felt the signature re emerge and gripped his katana.

Naruto felt the signature come at him at alarming speeds. His eyes widened; it was far faster than he expected. He turned his head and saw a wolf pouncing on him like a piece of meat. He formed a massive ice fox head, but the wolf turned into a man thrusting a sword at him. The fox's head was penetrated, ice shattered around the man and Naruto could see piercing, beady and calculating yellow eyes staring at him coolly.

Naruto found himself pushed through the other side of the fox head and smashed into a wall. The man frowned slightly whrn he didn't feel his sword stabbing through flesh. The dust cleared and he saw to boy embedded in a wall, holding his katana to his chest. The beady eyed man's sword had pierced through Naruto's sheath and created spider web cracks on his blade..

'_Impressive, especially for a brat' _The man thought, yellow eyes looking at the boy analytically. This boy's swordsman aura was strong – a rare occurrence. _'Show me what you've got' _A magic seal formed in front of the boy as he grunted.

"Frost bite," Naruto gritted out and a fox's head made out of ice shot out at the man.

When he stepped back to avoid the attack, Naruto got a look at the man. Slicked back hair with antenna like bangs falling on hid face, beady yellow eyes and a sharp face. He looked very shady and Naruto couldn't help but feel intimidated at his presence. He was wearing policeman clothes: A navy blue jacket, matching dress pants held up by a belt and black, practical shoes Naruto cursed in his mind.

'_Crap, this matches the description of Saitou Hajime. No ponytail though,' _He thought as he climbed out the wall. He looked at the client and sent a clear messageto all the other bodyguards, telling them to go. Naruto requipped his broken katana away and took his sakabatou from his belt. He slipped in a sideways stance, holding his sheath in his left hand and had his right hand hovering over the hilt as Saitou held his blade in his left hand, parallel to the ground with his legs bent and held his right arm forward. They were standing very far apart, ready to move any moment.

Saitou then glowed yellow as he turned into a wolf, pushing himself forward so fast he turned into a blur. Naruto pushed off the ground hard, the earth turned up and saitou turned human again to thrust at thin air. He recovered quickly as he felt Naruto at his right side. He turned on his heel to clash blades with the boy as the blonde drew his sakabatou from his sheath. The swords clashed as a shockwave resounded through the area and a nearby lamppost was sliced in to from the raw force of the cut.

Saitou stumbled a bit from the blow. Naruto's attack was much more powerful because he was in a more advantageous position and it was a battojutsu.

_This child's stance, style and techniques… It's just like Kisaragi's' Saitou thought._

'_Of course he wouldn't be beaten by exploiting his right side…' Naruto thought slightly tiredly. 'Turning into a wolf… most people would think it was just his swordsman spirit, maybe an illusion. It isn't. He's using takeover magic. The way he is using it is genius. Augmenting his dash power and speed whilst making himself a tiny target. Combined with some sort of piercing magic, I see why shishou held you in such high regard. This will be difficult.'_

Naruto pressed his advantage, using his impressive footwork to pressure Saitou, slowly overpowering him as the older man was unable to utilise the full arc of his swings. Feeling his disadvantage, the wolf-like man dashed backwards in a blur, using a partial takeover to strengthen his legs. He tilted his head as an ice kunai sailed past him.

Naruto gazed at the man, standing back in a neutral stance. He took his hand off the sword's hilt and ran it through his bangs. He smirked inwardly when he saw that his opponent looked at his hand, letting him cast an illusin on him. He put a depth perception illusion on him.

Saitou, being relatively close to the teen decided not to use takeover for his thrust and used his piercing magic as he pushed off the ground at fast speeds.

"Gatotsu," He said clearly. His thrust was slightly off time as Naruto side stepped. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw his cheek get cut, but grinned regardless.

"You can't use take over to enhance your thrust speed at close distance. Also your piercing magic increases the range of your thrusts…" he deducted cool. His eyes were narrowed as he looked at the man.

"Impressive. You used a minor illusion to throw off my depth perception and you gained that information from one attack. What is more impressive is that you cast that illusion with one finger. You're definitely good, boy but you are 10 years too early to be challenging me," He retorted, showing that he didn't care about the boy's deduction skills.

"It is an honor to hear that from you, but-"Naruto's eyes glowed a menacing red and the wind swept up his bangs. Saitou blinked as he was assaulted by an image of a demonic looking fox snarling at him. It was at least 50 feet tall and shared the same eyes as Naruto. A wave of killing intent washed over him. He sent out his own to counter it. "Let's get serious now, shall we?" He droned coldly. He stepped into the ground harshly, destroying the concrete as he twisted his body slightly and drew his sword in a battojutsu tilting downwards. "Dragon's descent," He called out as an ice dragon shot out of the arc and Naruto re sheathed his sword.

Saitou appeared behind him although his arm had a deep gash because he couldn't avoid all of the attack. He swung at Naruto ferociously, but Naruto didn't turn around, He just held his sword behind his head and blocked the blade. His index finger twitched as he turned his head and sent a sick grin at Saitou. The older man could see the boy's one lone red staring at him with some sort of sick satisfaction.

The boy vanished abruptly and appeared behind Saitou. He swung his sword in a wide, and slightly slow arc. Saitou with rather quick reflexes turned around and swept his feet from under him, grinning in satisfaction as he stabbed the blonde's face. His eyes widened as the body dissolved in to nothing.

'_Illusion… damn,' _he thought as he broke it. He looked to see Naruto tapping his sheath on the ground right in front of him. He sprung up as he performed an upwards battojutsu. A dragon's head formed in the arc. "Rising dragon's head," he called out.

He stepped back, but was unable to completely dodge the attack as his jaw was clipped by the dragon, sending him flying back. A magic seal appeared underneath him and an ice sword rose from the ground. It swallowed him up and he was trapped in it. Before it could fall to the ground, Naruto delivered a heavy kick to it with an ice encased leg. This caused the ice to shatter around him. Saitou rolled back quickly whilst glowing.

Naruto, startled at the quick recovery could do nothing as Saitou turned into a wolf, dashed forward and bit his arm roughly.

He grunted painfully, if he was thinking straight, he would have screamed in pain, but he wasn't. He tried to freeze the wolf, but he was already gone.

Naruto dropped the sheath of his sword as his magical power spiked. He held his sakabatou in his left hand and stood sideways. His wound on his right arm was bleeding quite severely but he ignored the pain. He closed his eyes in concentration. The clouds gathered over the battle site as hail started to fall. The winds picked up and the temperature dropped. Saitou's eyes widened when he felt Naruto's magic spread through the atmosphere. He looked at the boy warily and was surprised at what he saw.

The boy's usually blonde hair was white and shadowing his gleaming red eyes. His face was completely expressionless.

"Arctic Trigger," he whispered, but Saitou heard him perfectly.

"Bloody rain," he muttered as hundreds of ice swords fell on Saitou's position. The man was doing a good job dodging them as he was only hit by one or two. Naruto hopped on his legs as he grunted.

"Forbidden dance of lust," he chanted as he dashed right in the middle of the raining swords. He engaged Saitou in a sword fight whilst dodging all of his swords. Twirling, slashing, dashing, none of the swords hit Naruto. They were bothing panting heavily as Naruto kept on directing Saitou straight into the swords with his one handed slashes.

Suddenly, Saitou's magic power spiked.

"TAKE OVER: WEREWOLF SOUL!" He roared as the power knocked away the swords and Naruto. He stood at seven feet tall and black, messy hair was completely covering his body. He still had his katana in hand, though.

'_Shit, I can only use this form for 5 minutes and it leaves me completely tired after… With the shape I'm in, I'd be lucky to get one minute though.' _Saitou thought. He noticed that the boy's hair had reverted back to blonde and he was panting heavily and coughing up blood. His eyes narrowed when he noticed that the blonde was not holding his sakabatou anymre, but instead a purple wakizashi.

With enhanced sped, he appeared infront of the blonde.

"Gatotsu: zero stance," he said as he leant all his weight on the upper body and went to sent a devastating thrust at Naruto from point blank range. Naruto slid into a small closed off stance and muttered softly at the same time as Saitou.

"Judgement-," he said as the blade neared him. He appeared behind the werewolf as he Saitou thrusted his blade at him. The wolf man was encased in ice and Naruto sheathed his sword whilst multiple whipping sounds were heard. The ice shattered and Saitou was on the floor in human form. "Snowstorm," Naruto finished as a massive gash appeared on his shoulder and spurted blood. He fell down to one knee as Saitou weakly got on to one of his and coughed up a glob of blood. _'That move from so close…? He's better at that move than Kisaragi.'_

They both got up weakly, no swords in their hands. Saitou stood in a weak hand to hand stance with his guard up slightly, he was shaking. Naruto stood up, freezing the gash on his shoulder. He held up his left hand in front of his face and let his right arm dangle down. Saitou rushed at him, sending a punch at him. Naruto dodged it, leaning to the left. He sent three successive jabs at Saitou, wincing at the pain.

Saitou, however, was undeterred as he rushed forward, landing a devastating his to Naruto's kidney, causing the boy to gasp and buckle in pain. He pressed his advantage, punching Naruto in the faceas the boy on to his back and rolled backwards. He sent a kick at Saitou, who blocked it and caught it, but Naruto jumped up and kicked him in the face with the other foot sending Saitou sprawling to the ground. Naruto fell after that, too.

They both stood up on weak legs as they rushed towards each other. Saitou thre a right straight at him. At he same time, Naruto kicked with his right leg. They both hit each other at the same time, sending each other flying back.

"It's a draw…" Saitou said as he got up shakily. Naruto mirrored his actions. "For now." He finished as he built up the last of his magic power and slowly sunk into his shadow.

Saitou was already gone but Naruto felt the need to reply. "You can count on it," he said as he froze his worst wounds with what little magic power he had. He summoned a slab of ice under his feet, squeezing almost the last of his magic power out. He was running on will alone. He travelled a fair bit, but realised there was no hospital near. He grunted as he realised that he was near a train station.

Getting there and bandaging his wounds up in a bathroom he winced as he caught the nearest train to magnolia.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Having not slept on the train for fear that he wouldn't wake up, Naruto hobbled through the Fairy tail guild doors and promptly collapsed.

Everybody's eyes widened as they shouted. "NARUTO!" The guild rushed to his downed form as darkness took him…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto regained consciousness slowly, his eyes still closed. The first thing he felt was a splintering headache as he groggily opened his eyes. He felt a sheet covering his face gently.

Everything was a blur as his eyes focused on the distorted colours of the ceiling. He blinked and groaned tiredly.

"Where the hell am I?" He slurred out as he blinked and registered his surroundings.

"The infirmary," a voice called out beside him. He snapped his head to the source and winced in pain as he felt his shoulder shoot pain throughout his body. He saw a concerned looking Makarov and strangely subdued looking Mirajane sitting next to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" The master asked kindly.

"Like hell," Naruto admitted, rubbing his shoulder. He noticed he wasn't wearing a mask. Inwardly shrugging he turned his attention to the master.

"That's to be expected. You've been out for a week," Makarov stated.

"A week!?" Naruto exclaimed tiredly. "God, this hasn't happened since shishou pushed me too far in training when I was nine," he groaned.

"Yes a week. You suffered from Magic depletion and you had a lot of sword wounds on you, mind telling me how you got them?"

"A fight," Naruto replied shortly.

"Well of course," Makarov rolled his eyes. "Who?" he questioned. Naruto bit his lip, not sure if he wanted to tell Makarov. Makarov saw this and narrowed his eyes.

"You know, don't you?" he said.

"Yeah," Naruto replied honestly.

"Tell me," Makarov repeated. Naruto looked away slightly.

"The wolf of crocus," he started. Makarov's eyes widened. Saitou Hajime? The boy was lucky to be alive. "We fought to a draw. He looked just as bad as me!" Naruto said. Once again, Makarov's eyes bugged out of his head. He didn't know Naruto was THAT strong. If this was true, he was stronger than Laxus.

"You're lucky to be alive," He said. "I'll talk to you about it later," Makarov glanced at Mirajane. "I have a feeling she wants to talk to you ," he said walking out.

Naruto and Mirajane stared at each other for a bit, their blue eyes meeting. After an awkward silence, Mira finally spoke up.

"You nearly died," she stated blankly.

"Yeah…." Naruto trailed off, unsure how to respond. Mira stared at him for a bit and scowled.

"Yeah? That's all you can say! You nearly died!" She cried out.

"Mira, I'm sorry," he said calmly.

"You're sorry?" she whispered. She felt a rage building up inside of her. He was _sorry_?

**SLAP!**

Mira panted with rage as she struck the blonde. He had a red mark on his cheek, but he simply had his face turned the other way.

"You're sorry!?" she repeated. "Sorry doesn't change anything if you're dead you idiot!" She shouted, her voice cracking slightly. She didn't notice the tears that were streaming down her face as she scowled.

"You had me so worried! You're such an idiot!" she sobbed. She wrapped her arms around him as she cried into his chest.

"What would I do if you died?" she spoke, clearly. Naruto wrapped his arms around her as she carried on crying."

"Mira," He said as she looked up. "You don't have to worry about me… I'm alive aren't I?" He said softly.

Mira scowled again.

"Why are you acting like its not a big deal! Like it never happened!" She shouted again as she stormed out the room. He held his hand out as he called out for her.

"Mira, wait!" he called out, but she didn't listen.

As Mira walked out the room, she noticed that everything was quiet and everybody was looking at her. She realised that they must have heard some of it.

"What," she growled as she glared, making everybody look away as she walked out of the guild doors.

**This came out much sooner than I thought it would. I felt the need to post it because I already had a lot of it written up, so yeah. Next update WILL take a while.**

**I don't want to rush the Mira and Naruto relationship too much, I decided to put it off for a while. I'm just trying to create more and more interaction between them as time passes. Itachi will be next chapter or the one after, I'm not sure. The Itachi part will only last 1 maybe 2 chapters, but it is important to Naruto's character development. **

**I'm in the process of writing two other stories at the moment. The one where Naruto is Erza's little brother will take quite a while to come out. Maybe it'll come out around christmas? The first chapter anyway**

** The other Naruto Fairy Tail crossover is still in planning stages, but I'll reveal that Naruto's family will be alive in it and i'll be skipping all the training arcs so it'll start around canon time when he is 15 in that story. However, there will be his own arcs and villains and Naruto WILL NOT be joining Fairy Tail in it. I have much more freedom that way. It'll be out sooner than the other one anyway.**


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto clenched his fists as he stared at the full moon. It was beautiful. The pearly white moonlight shone on the side of his face, illuminating it like a lamp. He was lost in his thoughts completely, and it was a rare occasion where he was completely unaware of his surroundings. Blood drew from his palms clenched his fists tighter. _'I want to fight him again…' _he thought distantly. _'But I don't want her to cry again' _he sighed inwardly.

These past two weeks had been rough for Naruto. Now, he was fully healed from his fight was Saitou but Mira was still mad at him. She had been avoiding him, mostly, and when she couldn't she would blank him and glare. It was also a difficult time of the year for Naruto – the day his village had been destroyed. His control of his split personality had been slipping and while he hadn't openly threatened anybody, he had glared with his chilling red eyes.

He was also conflicted with himself. He wanted to fight Saitou again, but was it worth it? He didn't know why, but Mira giving him the cold shoulder really had him down. He enjoyed her company and even though she always acted like it, she had never been truly mad at him before, but now she was and to top it off he made her cry. It made him feel truly guilty.

'_She wouldn't understand… for me there is nothing more thrilling than a fight where one wrong move can cost you your life.' _He debated internally. _'That is rather selfish, though. My father… gave his life so I could live, it was his last wish. My mother, too.' _He gritted his teeth. _'But nothing makes me feel more alive than the fear and exhilaration of a battle. Fear lets you know that you are alive because you only fear what can make you suffer! That is a human's purpose! To suffer and destroy.'_

Naruto clutched his head in pain. What the hell were these thoughts? He had never thought so pessimistically before.

Was this his true self?

A battle hungry monster?

He shook that question out of his head. As long as he kept his sheath strong he could keep his destructive tendencies at bay. So distracted he was, he didn't notice somebody approaching him.

"You look like you are thinking very hard, that you do," A voice said from behind him. Startled, Naruto twisted on his heel and drew his wakizashi. His katana was still being repaired, so he had his wakizashi on his belt along with his sakabatou.

"Wow, you are speedier than ever, Naruto," a very familiar voice chuckled.

"Kenshin…?" He asked hesitantly, squinting a bit. He couldn't see him too well in the dark.

"Yes it is," he replied kindly. He hadn't changed at all. He was still wearing the same clothes as before and there were no new scars or marks on his face.

"Wow, it has been a while. I haven't seen you in a year. Have you settled down yet?" Naruto asked curiously.

"That it has, Naruto. I have not settled down, yet," he smiled. "How have you been?"

"You haven't settled down yet… sheesh you're not getting any younger, old man," Naruto replied slyly.

"I'm 25," Kenshin deadpanned.

"25, 50, I don't care, you speak like an old man-ttebayo!" Naruto retorted. _'ttebayo? I haven't said that in a while' _He thought, blushing in embarrassment. Kenshin didn't grace that response with a reply.

"There's that carefree Naruto I know," he said. "Care to tell me what's wrong?" Naruto looked away a bit. It was nice to have somebody to talk to again. He had opened up to a few people, but he did not really feel comfortable with sharing his problems in the guild. He wasn't quite close enough to anybody for that, or if he was, he was a big brother figure (to Gray and a lesser extent, Natsu).

"I guess so," he sighed, sitting down. "I fought Saitou a few weeks ago." Kenshin's eyebrows rose.

"Oh? Is that why you are missing a katana?" Kenshin said as Naruto nodded.

"We fought to a draw. It was the most exciting fight of my life," Naruto stated. "It left me completely exhausted,"

"You're getting strong." Kenshin praised. Naruto smiled a bit.

"Thanks. I worried a lot of people though, but still… I want to fight him again," Kenshin nodded understandingly. He understood Naruto's troubles.

"That is natural, that it is. No matter how much somebody doesn't want to fight, a warrior will always love battle," Kenshin started. "However, remember the words you told me…" Naruto's eyes widened. _'The most important part of a sword is its sheath' _"and these past few years travelling have told me, that a true warrior picks his battles wisely, that he does. Battle for the sake of a battle is like waving your blade around. You'll destroy everything in your path and eventually end up self destructing," Kenshin paused and gazed at the stars. "Your darkness will take over you and you'll lose sight of what is important."

Naruto nodded, listening to the wise words. Deep down, he already knew them, but wanted to forget them. The rush of battle proving very addicting.

"Thanks Kenshin," Naruto smiled.

"No problem," Kenshin dismissed, sitting down. "Now tell me what you've been up to over this past year…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto sat in the guild with a relaxed posture. He had spent a few hours speaking with Kenshin and he felt like he had a 1000 ton weight lifted off him. Kenshin had admitted that if Naruto and Saitou fought again under neutral circumstances, Saitou wouldn't kill him as he surely noticed that Kisaragi was Naruto's master and wouldn't willingly kill a student of Jin's. So Naruto would probably get to fight him again anyway.

Naruto gave a respecting nod to Gildarts as he spotted him drinking a beer at the bar. Naruto and Gildarts got along very well. They were both laid back and enjoyed the Icha Icha series. Even though he was barely at the guild, Gildarts was like a father figure to Natsu, but Naruto didn't need that type of relationship. Instead, he became a friend to Naruto, despite the age difference. Their personalities were similar enough.

Naruto spotted Mirajane walk into the guild. The darker blue eyes met his cerulean, but she abruptly looked away with an unreadable expression on her face. Lisanna gave her sister a concerned look.

"Mira-nee, its been two weeks. Maybe you should just talk to him?" She suggested. Mira glared at her sister. "It's none of your business, just leave me alone!" she snapped, causing Lisanna to flinch. The girl sighed tiredly. Her sister really was hopeless.

Naruto looked away, seemingly nonchalantly, but her actions towards him stung; he wouldn't lie to himself. Pouring some sake into his saucer, he downed it. He spotted Erza's disapproving look, but he couldn't really care less. He had taken to drinking sake earlier this year. Plus, it was his birthday but nobody else in the guild knew that. He usually disappeared this time and visited where he and his master used to live, or his old village.

His old village still was in the same state as when it was destroyed. He didn't know why nothing had been done to it but he didn't really care.

Naruto frowned when he tasted the sake. _'It tastes bloody,' _Naruto thought. A strange feeling welled up in his stomach. '_What is this feeling?'_

Naruto felt an uneasiness creep upon him. Gripping his sword, he tensed and his eyes shifted around relentlessly. His eyes widened as a kunai penetrated through the wall of the guild. It headed straight towards him as everybody could only watch on helplessly as they thought one of their members were going to die.

The kunai whizzed closer and closer to his face, barrelling forward like a soaring hawk.

The kunai appeared in front of his face, almost brushing his nose but it promptly stopped and span around in the air as Naruto put his finger through the ring of it and spun it around harmlessly. Noticing a note attached to it, he pulled it off and read it.

'_It is time, little brother. Meet me at konoha at 7pm. I hope you have gotten stronger; you'll need to have.'_

Naruto clenched his fists as he read the note. _'He just disappears and then makes demands' _Naruto thought bitterly._ 'No doubt if he is implying what I think he is implying then this is not going to be a happy reunion' _ Naruto looked up and saw that everybody had worried and astonished looks on their faces. They morphed into furious expressions.

"How dare somebody try to kill one of our members!" A few shouted and agitated shouts were heard all around the guild. Makarov walked up to Naruto with a concerned look on his face.

"What does it say?" He asked.

"…," Naruto didn't reply, he just stared at the paper in his own thoughts. _'Bastard! I don't care what you want with me. All I care about is why you left me alone' _Naruto breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Naruto!" the master shouted Naruto's eyes drifted over to Makarov. "What does it say?"

"Nothing important," Naruto lied. Makarov set him with a firm gaze. Naruto grunted and stood up, walking away.

"Naruto! It obviously is important. Tell me," Naruto turned his head slightly, allowing Makarov to see one of his eyes.

"It is none of your concern," He said coldly, his eye flickering red. A lot of members flinched from his demonic gaze. Naruto went to walk forward, but his path was blocked by a furious looking Mira.

"Move," He demanded.

"No,"

"I said _move, Little demon_," He forcefully said, shoving past her.

"Hey! Don't be an ass!" Elfman shouted. Naruto ignored him and walked past him. He was about to carry on walking, but his wrist was grabbed. He looked back and saw Mira holding his wrist.

"I don't know what your problem is! You have nor right to act like that! The master is just worried about you and so is everybody else. You never open up to anyone, aren't we your family?" She snapped. "You are acting like an asshole! Just tell us what the note says." She said. Naruto kept up his glare, but his eyes flickered blue again and she nearly sighed in relief, but that sigh turned into a choke.

Naruto's eyes flickered a glowing shade of dark red as his magic power spiked. A misty like blue aura floated off him in wisps and everybody felt an increase in magic power. A titanic sized fox appeared above him with nine swishing tails and a lot of people were brought to their knees at the strong magical power. Things around him were frozen. "Tch," Naruto muttered and walked out of the guild.

Makarov shook his head sadly as Naruto walked out. When Naruto walked into the guild this morning, he was cheerful and Makarov felt relieved as it seemed to be genuine. Whatever was on that kunai affected him pretty badly as his personality took a complete one-eighty.

Even Makarov felt a little intimidated at the display. Naruto's magic power was certainly nothing to scoff at, even if it didn't quite compare to his or Gildarts' yet. However, Naruto emitted a dangerous presence and he looked rather frightening. Makarov could only imagine how powerful the boy could become in ten years.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Itachi stared at the ruins of konoha. Rubble was everywhere, buildings had fallen and there was a malicious presence in the air. His eyes wondered over to the rows of makeshift graves that had been made. _'Maybe I can rest after today' _Itachi thought wistfully. He coughed and held his hand over his mouth. He stared at the blood dribbling off his hands stoically. _'Maybe today I can die.'_

He let a small smile grace his face. _'At least I can test my capacity. You've gotten so strong, Naruto,'_

These years had been boring for Itachi. He just been killing and killing people. He hadn't been touched in a fight for three years and all the assassinations had been getting tiring. Nothing had been interesting for him. To top it off, he was dying because of overuse of the mangekyou sharingan. He knew he didn't have long to live and wanted to experience a good fight before he did.

He knew it was selfish, but he wanted to die in a great battle. It was cruel for Naruto, he could have just challenged a notoriously strong dark mage or something, but he wanted to see how far Naruto had grown. After all, Naruto was one of his precious little brothers, he wanted to make sure that he was strong enough.

Itachi let a small smile grace his face as he felt a presence approach him.

"Hello, Naruto," He droned stoically.

"It has been so long and that is all you can say?" Naruto laughed humourlessly. "I guess some things never change,"

"Perhaps," Itachi stated. He turned to face Naruto, sharingan blazing. There was a brief silence as Naruto clenched his fists.

"Why?" He asked almost pleadingly, glancing at Itachi's eyes. His eyes widened when Itachi phased behind him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate," Itachi said from behind him. Naruto's formed an ice kunai in his hand in a blink of an eye, turned around and stabbed Itachi in the chest. This is all happened in less than a second.

Naruto blinked as Itachi burst into a flock of crows and he appeared in front of him, stabbing him in retaliation. Naruto dissolved into nothing and appeared behind Itachi who was now encased in ice.

"You know what I mean!" Naruto growled

Itachi dispersed in crows again, turning, swarming Naruto. Naruto's body melted into nothingness and the image shimmered, revealing Naruto and Itachi who hadn't moved at all. Naruto was breathing slightly raggedly, but Itachi looked completely fine.

'_To be able to keep up in illusions with me without having the sharingan… You are indeed amazing, Naruto.' _ "Why did I kill my parents? Why did I leave without a word?" He said. Naruto glared.

"Yes,"

"For power. Nothing more, nothing less," Itachi lied smoothly. Naruto looked away slightly.

"I don't believe you," Naruto denied sadly.

"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant," Itachi retorted. Naruto looked at Itachi with dark eyes. His bangs were shadowing his hair.

"Your enemies can't hurt you the way the people you care about can, Itachi. If you're playing some sick game…" Naruto raised his head and glared with red eyes. "I'll never forgive you!"

"I assure you it is not a sick game…"

"I still don't believe you. If you won't tell the truth…" Naruto requipped a spare katana out of his inventory. It had a plain black hilt and sheath. "I'll force it out of you," he said, his eyes reverting back to blue. A magic seal appeared under Itachi's feet and a sword rose from the ground. He simply dashed back to avoid it. As soon as Itachi stepped back, Naruto blurred in front of him and drew his sword at insane speeds. Itachi leant back to avoid the slash. Naruto recovered quickly and shot a fox head at Itachi. "Frost bite," he muttered. It hit, but Itachi dispersed in a flock of crows and appeared standing on some rubble about 40 metres away.

"Impressive," he stated. "But-," he stared at Naruto with his sharingan eyes, Naruto didn't meet his gaze.

"You'll have to do better than that, Naruto."

**This chapter, I wanted to give a sense of Naruto's inner conflict and confusion. I haven't shown much of it at all, because I had been waiting for the right time and I think now is it. I had fun writing this chapter but it isn't too long. I'm just getting the chance to show Naruto's true personality. These following chapters are some of the most important part of his character development. He has his own faults and dark thoughts.**

**Anyway, Naruto vs Itachi next chapter. I'm trying to make Naruto's fights different from each other. As you may have noticed, he takes different approaches against different opponents. Now he is not fighting a swordsman... or Gildarts, he'll have a proper chance to showcase his other skills.**

**I'm still writing my other story, the one where Naruto is Erza's brother. I have decided it will be a Naruto x Lisanna. I like that pairing, but I've only seen one story with it and it was no where near finished. Surprisingly, I've already finished the first chapter of it, I thought I would have procrastinated longer. I'm getting off topic here, but I have two questions: What would you want Naruto's fourth magic to be? His first is the sharingan (With no copying, I thought this would be an appropriate trade off for the mangekyou not making him blind. He'll get very tired from using it, though) and his second is black lightning. Third would be illusions (I love illusions) What would you think would be a good fourth? It doesn't have to be anything powerful.**

**Lastly, what weapon would you want him to wield? I was planning on using a chokuto sword or something, but eh i'm easy on it. Unlike this story, a weapon won't be his main form of combat, he'll just be skilled with them. (I might make him insanely good at hand to hand or something so I can recreate the Madara/shinobi alliance rape scene)**

**Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to review =)**


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto closed his eyes. "I will," he breathed almost inaudibly. Hopping on his leg, Itachi prepared to defend against Naruto's shukuchi. Bracing himself, he spread his legs into a defensive stance. However, Naruto had other plans and appeared behind Itachi with his blade protruding through his shoulder. Itachi's face didn't change at all he simply looked ahead of him.

"Why didn't you go for a killing blow?" He asked monotonously.

"As if I'd kill you," Naruto retorted sharply.

"It is a shame… one day that will lead to your downfall," Itachi talked like he had been programmed. "The only way to ensure your survival is destroy anybody who poses a threat to you. Your foolish ideals will cost you your life." With that, Itachi's body faded and was consumed by another flock of crows. He appeared behind Naruto with a kunai to his neck.

"I don't give a crap about useless ideals. I do whatever the hell I want," Naruto smirked. "Some people call it doing the right thing… who are we to determine what is right and wrong?" He dissolved into nothing and he and Itachi appeared where they were standing before.

Naruto rushed at Itachi and Itachi simply watched as Naruto neared him. Naruto threw a roundhouse kick at him. Itachi ducked as Naruto twirled around and completed the motion jumping up into a spinning kick. Itachi blocked it with his forearm and used a requip to get out a kunai and stab at a now grounded Naruto. Naruto, however, drew his sword halfway out the sheath and blocked the kunai aimed at his kidney with his exposed blade.

Pulling the blade just out the sheath, and resheathing it again all under a second, he created a booming sonic boom sound that caused Itachi to stumble and his ears to ring. Taking advantage of the situation, Naruto used a horizontal battojutsu to slash at Itachi, but Itachi saw it and moved just out of range and sprung back in an impressive display of acrobatics, avoiding the ice dragon forming in the arc of the slash.

'_He disabled my sense of hearing and attack me whilst I was disorientated. If it was not for my sharingan, that would have worked.'_

Naruto gave Itachi a calculating stare but did not look in his eyes. _'how impressive, his reaction time is something else' _Itachi returned his gaze. _'Impressive hand to hand and his transitions between hand to hand and swordplay is seamless. He is very fast…' _Itachi thought. Itachi leaned his head back and a red magic seal appeared in front of him.

"Grand Fireball!" He called out and breathed making a massive ball of fire appear in front of him and travel towards Naruto at moderate speeds. Naruto blurred to the side to avoid the fireball and met a prepared Itachi who sent a slash at him with his kunai. Naruto ducked it and stepped forward drawing his sword at Itachi who stepped back to dodge it. Itachi's eyes widened when he spotted the sheath coming at him at high speeds. He held his kunai up to block it.

They made contact.

The kunai shattered.

Itachi felt a dull pain ringing through his arm. _'If I didn't have the sharingan, that would have hit and he would have broken my arm' _ Itachi thought. Itachi's stumbling allowed Naruto to hop on his leg and disappear in a shukuchi.

Itachi's eyes darted around the area madly, tracking Naruto. Naruto was a blur to his sharingan, he could only see him clearly when his foot impacted the ground, causing it to be demolished when it was touched. His sharingan eye stopped moving when he felt Naruto behind him, turning on his heel he lashed out on Naruto who was mid attack, throwing three kicks in Naruto's midsection and sending him sprawling on the ground.

"Come on, Naruto – Surely you can do better," Itachi taunted. Narutogrowled and rolled backwards on to his feet safely.

"Pheonix flower," Itachi called out sending multiple small fireballs at Naruto. Naruto ran to the side, dodging them harmlessly as he sent a multitude of Ice swords at Itachi. Itachi dodged them all with refined grace. Meeting in the middle Naruto unleashed a wordless frost bite causing Itachi to side step. Naruto pursued him rushed at him drawing his sword.

"Snow flower storm," He called out unleashing a ferocious barrage of sword slashes. Itachi dodged them almost carelessly but sloppily blocked a hook kick that sent him stumbling backwards. Naruto pressed the advantage, disappearing and appearing behind Itachi and slashing at Itachi. Itachi ducked and swept Naruto's feet from under him. Naruto sprung back up on his hands, but Itachi saw Naruto's disadavantage and thrust a kunai at Naruto's stomach. Naruto's eyes widened but he caught the kunai with his left index and middle finger. He strained to stop Itachi and the kunai stopped a hair's breadth from his stomach. Naruto didn't have time to rejoice as his jaw was kicked and he was sent tumbling like a ball down a hill. He was a ragdoll as his form smashed through rubble.

Itachi withdrew shuriken and threw them at the same time as he lit them with the phoenix flower technique. He aimed them at Naruto's form, but a wall of ice blocked them from hitting the blonde. Itachi backpedalled as he saw a seal appear under his feet and dodged the ice swords flying through the air at him. He saw a barrage of Ice kunai flying at him and withdrew his own and threw them. All of Naruto's ice kunai had been deflected except for one that Itachi caught, twirled on his heel and clashed against a rather ragged looking Naruto's sword guard as he was about to draw his blade.

Naruto's eyes widened _'He's a monster, this is unbelievable.' _Naruto saw a kunai approaching his face and raised his arm guard. It found itself embedded in there, but the force of the stab sent Naruto's arm into his face. His face recoiled from the strike and Itachi sent a barrage of kicks and punches at his midsection, finishing with a violent kick that sent Naruto flying back into the sea of makeshift graveyards. Naruto stood up shakily but saw a massive fireball consume him.

Itachi watched stoically as the fireball impacted. _'He's not finished' _he thought as he saw the fireball disappear and the smoke dissipate. He saw a faint silhouette. There was Naruto panting heavily with a half melted fox head protecting him.

Itachi watched calmly as a magic seal formed around him. A dozen crows shot at Naruto and formed into kunai as they got nearer. Naruto deflected them all with his katana.

He had dropped his sheath, completely abandoning it on the ground.

He rushed at Itachi with surprising speed and swung his katana at him. He thrusted, swung and shashed savagely as Itachi dodged his attempts to hit him. To anybody else, they would look like a blur. Itachi held a kunai in his hand and deflected what he couldn't dodge but Naruto was relentless.

Naruto did not stop he kept on going and going, causing shockwaves to vibrate through the area when they clashed. Seeing a hole in Naruto's offense, Itachi pressed it and swung his kunai.

Naruto saw it in slow motion. It came closer and closer. Naruto could only watch with wide eyes at it approached him. He leant back a bit to lessen the impact but it was futile.

Naruto was powerless to stop the kunai as it neared his face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, clutching his right eye as blood poured out of it like a fountain. He dashed back, cringing in pain, so Itachi couldn't press the attack. He froze the right side of his face to stop the bleeding.

Naruto stared expressionlessly at the ground. This made Itachi hesitant to attack. He glared at nothing as his magical power slowly rose. His lone eye glowed red and his misty blue aura oozed off him. A crazed looking fox materialised behind him judging Itachi for all his worth, Naruto's head rose slowly as he stared into the sky.

"Big mistake," He said coldly. Itachi's eyes widened as Naruto rushed at him. _'What the hell is this feeling? It feels like my sharingan won't work as I watch him approach…' _Naruto sent a barrage of kicks at Itachi who could only block them with a cross guard.

'_He's not any faster than before… why is he so hard to read?' _He thought ducking to the ground as Naruto twirled around and sent a murderous slash at Itachi with his blade and the raven haired man could only duck. As he ducked he felt his face get grabbed. Naruto held his face in a vice grip and dragged his body against the floor ruthlessly, bringing up rubble as his body sailed through the ground. He grabbed Itachi's head and slammed it into the ground. He met Itachi's eyes as he went to do it a second time and the older man exploded in a flock of crows as his head made contact with the ground again.

Naruto turned on his heel and spotted a rather roughed up looking Itachi. Itachi coughed as he regained his composure. _'What the hell is this? His attacks lack any intent! He's expelling killing intent like a leaking tap.' _Itachi thought. His eyes widened._ 'Is it possible? … He's not focused on attack me, rather than destroying everything that stands in his path._' Itachi deducted._ 'This is my first time seeing your split personality, Naruto. It is truly fearsome' _

"Impressive, Naruto. Show me your power!" Itachi exclaimed.

"Enough of your talk… If there is one thing that never changes about me is that I hate talking during a fight," droned Naruto. His killing intent spiked. "Make me feel alive!" he yelled.

"Very well," responded Itachi. His eyes formed into the mangekyou. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Naruto's magic spread thouhout the atmosphere. '_What is this?' _He thought suspiciously. He glanced at Naruto and saw his hair being swept up by the wind. His hair had turned a snowy white and his lone eye glowed ominously.

"Arctic trigger," Naruto announced. The clouds gathered around the area darkly.

"What is this?" Itachi asked.

"As if I'd tell you," Naruto stated. Itachis eyes widened when he was surrounded by dozens of pale blue magic seals. Itachi pushed himself out of range hastily, but he couldn't avoid the full force of the attack.

"Grand Fireball!" Itachi called out as a fireball appeared out of a magic seal.

"Tsk," Naruto scoffed and froze the fireball. Itachi's eyes widened to the size of basketballs. _'He froze my fire... that is abnormal. This arctic trigger must enhance his ice attacks. I can see his magical power spread through the area. It is very cold right now. This gives him an environmental advantage because he can withstand cold temperatures.'_

"Bloody rain!" Naruto called out. Itachi spotted hundreds of magical seals appearing above him and his eyes widened. Hundreds of ice swords were falling at him st rapid speeds. He dodged them in an impressive display of acrobatics. However he was unprepared as Naruto pursued him in the rain of falling blades.

"Forbidden dance of lust," Naruto called out as he dodged, weaved and attacked Itachi in the rain of ice blades. Itachi could only do one thing right now…

"Susanoo!" H called out. Naruto was thrown back by a blast of magical power. His eyes widened when he saw an ethereal figure guarding Itachi. It was humanoid and was red in colour. It had a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. It quickly disappeared, but Naruto was in a daze.

Naruto's eye reverted to its usual blue and his hair blonde again. He breathed in and out completely exhausted. He sat on his ass and ignored Itachi who was staring at him.

'_I'm completely spent… I lost?" _ Naruto thought. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Itachi's magic power built up.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi called out. Naruto's eyes flickered up and he saw the black flames approaching him rapidly. Naruto could do nothing as they approached him.

'_Is this how I die?' _Naruto thought. _'Pathetic... Dying so soon in life. I'm sorry everybody. Mira was right… eh. Apologies mean nothing if I'm dead. Tch… whatever, she can kick my ass in the after life.'_

Naruto closed his eyes, not wanting his brother figure to be the last thing he saw before he died. He waited and waited but felt nothing.

He opened his eyes reluctantly and could only see gold. "Am I dead?" he whispered.

"No," He heard a voice say, he snapped his head to the side and saw a red haired woman smiling at him warmly.

"Mother…?" He called out questioningly. She just smiled and faded out of existence. He looked forward and saw his vision being obscured by golden chains. His eye was wide as he looked at his arms and saw them protruding out of his wrists.

"Is this me…? Mother… you protected me?" He said looking at the golden chains. He suddenly felt the urge to scream as he felt a smouldering hot magic invade his system. It felt like he had gulped down a gallon of boiling coffee only one hundred times worse.

"ARGHHHHHHHH" He screamed as he felt the amaterasu being absorbed. This happened for about thirty seconds as he cried out in pain. Eventually the pain ceased and Naruto looked at his hands wondorously.

"My magical power has been restored?" He said. _'You protected me, mother. Thank you.' _He held his hand to his injured eye as the ice had melted from the heat of the magical power. Blood was running freely down his face. _'My eye, huh? It is kind of fitting since I had lost sight of what is important,' _Naruto thought humourlessly.

"Itachi," Naruto called out.

"What?" he replied tiredly. He really did not expect Naruto to survive that he was wracked by the guilt of nearly killing his little brother. He just got caught up in the heat of battle. He had never felt so alive before.

"I've shown you the power of my blade," He started seriously. "Now let me present to you…" He requipped yukianesa into his hand drew it slowly, not taking his eyes off his blade. "The strength of my sheath!" He roared.

Magic seals appeared around Itachi as he looked on stoically. His susanoo flared again as he stood completely still. The kunais smashed against the humanoid harmlessly.

"You are nothing to the power of the susanoo," Itachi stated. "You forced me to show the last card in my hand. That is something to be proud of, foolish little brother." He held his hand over his mouth and coughed causing blood to ooze out of his mouth and dribble down his chin. He tried to walk forward, but a magic seal formed under his feet causing his eyes to widen. He looked up and saw Naruto with hard blue eyes, stabbing his blade into the ground.

'_I don't have the raw power to bypass the guard, but it can't protect him if the attack is inside this susanoo' _Naruto thought. Itachi was encased in a blade of black ice.

'_This ice…it burns!' _he thought in excruciating pain. The ice melted nearly as soon as it encased him. _'I guess this is the end' _Itachi thought in acceptance of his fate.

He charged at Itachi who was smiling and thrusted his blade at him. _'The power within me was not what I needed to win… It was the strength of my feelings that lay within others. I have an obligation to live… for everybody that died for me and for the people who care about me. They're always protecting me…" _Naruto thought with determination.

Naruto neared Itachi, but the man did not move. Naruto's eyes widened as he expected Itachi to dodge, but he hadn't. Naruto moved his sword at the last second away from his heart, but it still impaled his chest.

No!

It wasn't supposed to happen like that.

Itachi smiled and leant his head on Naruto's shoulder. "I guess this is the end, little brother," he sighed. Naruto didn't respond, he just held on to the blade with wide eyes.

"Why?" He asked, tears falling from his left eye and blood dripping from the right.

"Why…? I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate," Itachi said in a strained voice. He raised a shaky finger and flicked Naruto on the forehead weakly. Leaving a trail of blood down his forehead to his cheek.

"Why? Why did you not dodge?!" He shouted hysterically.

"I'm dying… I just wanted to die. I gave up. I would have lost anyway… I was completely exhausted," Itachi replied solemnly. Naruto growled.

"And you made me do it? Did you ever stop to think what I would feel?" He questioned.

"No, I didn't," Itachi gave a sad smile. "I've been such a bad big brother figure to you… haven't I? It is your birthday today. I didn't even get you a present," Itachi muttered apologetically.

"You think I care about that now!?" Naruto scowled lightly, stifling sobs. Itachi just ignored him.

"Well, there is something I can do for you," Itachi said. He pressed his finger to Naruto's right eye and closed his. "There," the raven haired man smiled.

"What…?" Naruto started but was cut off by Itachi coughing up blood.

"It's too late to change things now. Even if you hate me… I want you to know that I will always love you as my precious little brother," Itachi said and he closed his eyes. "Don't blame yourself…"

No!

"ITACHI!" Naruto called, but received no reply.

Naruto felt Itachi's ragged breaths simply cease. "ITACHI, DON'T DIE!" He cried out in anguish. Itachi, however, just leant against Naruto's shouder with a peaceful smile on his face motionlessly.

"Itachi, please don't die… I never wanted this." He whispered but it was futile. Itachi Uchiha was already dead.

"Why? Why does everybody I care about die?" He muttered, laying Itachi's body down on the ground gently. His right eye opening to reveal a pinwheel shaped mangekyou sharingan

**An hour later**

Naruto stared at the grave of Itachi, buried right next his father. Their fight had pretty much wrecked the makeshift graveyard. He decided that it would be a good idea to bury Itachi near his father as Itachi was a ninja. He had bandaged up his right eye. That was the only really bad wound on his body. He had miraculously avoided most fatal wounds.

The magic power in his body wasn't his and it was really uncomfortable. It had really taken its toll on his body and he couldn't stand up at all.

He decided that it was time to wield the yukianesa. He had finally steeled his resolve and decided that now was the time to use it. It reminded him that his master was always with him.

He sat in front of his parent's and Itachi's grave silently. His face was blank. He had said his goodbyes and there was nothing he could do.

"Would you be proud of me?" He asked distractedly.

"Yes," Naruto heard a voice say. He snapped his head around to see a faint image of his mother and father with their arms around each other.

"Mother… Father…" He called out and reached to grab the image, but as soon as his hand touched it, it dissipated. He sighed wistfully. "I'm seeing things now," he murmured.

Makarov came walking into the graveyard. He looked at the destruction around him and whistled. '_He really went all out' _Makarov thought. The whistle caught the attention of Naruto whose eye widened when he saw who was there.

"Ero-jiji?" He called out. "How did you find me?"

Makarov deadpanned. "I felt your magic signature all the way from magnolia and somebody else's," he stated.

"Oh…" Naruto said sheepishly.

"What happened?" Makarov asked.

"I got into a fight." Naruto said sadly. Makarov approached the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "I-it's over," Naruto forced out, his throat feeling like it had closed up. Makarov squeezed his shoulder gently.

"I see… is he…?"

"Yeah, he… died," Naruto breathed. "He could have dodged, but he didn't. He just died with a smile on his face." Naruto's knuckles turned white. "I don't know why…? He… I…!" Naruto sobbed.

"People have their own reasons for doing everything, just be glad that he died with no regrets," Makarov comforted. "I hate to see my children in a state like this."

"Thanks master…" he said respectfully for a change. "There was one thing I learned today though,"

"Oh? What is that?"

"I re-learned the value of my sheath," he said glancing down to his sword in his lap and Makarov followed his gaze. Makarov immediately identified the sword instantly.

"The yukianesa? Wield it well, Naruto," he said with a smile.

"I will," He touched his bandaged eye. "I lost sight of what is important, but now I have Itachi's eye to guide me," He pulled his mask off. "I'm taking off this mask: literally and figuratively." He said, causing Makarov to get a giant grin on his face.

"That is great to hear, now lets get you back home it is quite late."

"Yeah… one question, though," Naruto said, staring at his mother's grave. Makarov looked at it and his eyes widened. He bowed to it solemnly, "What magic did my mother use?"

Makarov looked surprised at the question. "You've never directly asked about your mother before… but to answer your question she used these beautiful golden chains," He answered.

"So… she did protect me then," said Naruto, sprouting a golden chain from his wrist. This made Makarov smile tearily.

"It seems she did," He smiled. _'That's just like her. Even the boundaries of life and deah won't prevent her from protecting what she loves' _"Let's go then, Naruto!"

"Ah… ero-jiji," Naruto whined. "I can't stand."

"Seriously?" Makarov used titan magic and picked him up. "Troublesome brat," he complained and carried him towards the magic car he used to get to Naruto. Walking off into the distance, Naruto didn't notice three spirits watching him with a smile.

"Our boy has grown so strong, Minato," Kushina said. "Not to mention handsome, too,"

"Well he is my son," Minato boasted smugly. Kushina grinned. "Don't forget about me. He has my face after all."

"Live well, little brother," Itachi whispered and the three disappeared into nothingness.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto woke up groggily. He turned his head and saw a grumpy looking Porlyusica.

"Ahh," he winced, feeling the bruises full effect on him.

"So you're up, human? You're safe to leave now. Go!"

Naruto shook his tiredness away promptly, not wanting to get on the woman's bad side. Makarov took him to get his eye checked out as soon as they returned much to the pink haired woman's annoyance. She fixed all the small mistakes with the eye transplant and recoloured his eye back to blue. He was now able to activate and deactivate the sharingan whenever he wanted. He had stayed there for a day and the woman was already getting agitated.

However, not all was perfect as Naruto had a scar from above his right eyebrow to the top of his cheekbone.

Naruto grunted and got out of the tree house as quickly as he could but not before thanking her.

"Thanks granny," he said cheekily and disappeared out the door just intime to avoid a broom thrown at him.

"Damn human brat," she scowled.

Naruto walked to his apartment. He was rather disconnected and was staring into space. He didn't realise that he had reached his apartment already. His thoughts were on Itachi. Although he told Naruto not to blame himself, he couldn't help but do it. He also srill had unanswered questions that would never be answered.

Naruto opened the door of his apartment to get some fresh clothes and then head to the guild.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked into the guild wearing new clothes. They were still very similar but different at the same time.

He was wearing a pink kimono top, tied low with a red belt. The left side was decorated with sakura petal designs and he had discarded his amguards, replacing them with metal plated fingerless gloves. His left arm was not in his sleeve as he played with the hilt of his sword. He only had one sword on his belt instead of the usual two. His pants were now a medium shade of gray and his sandals hadn't changed at all.

The most noticeable change, though, was the lack of a facemask, revealing his whiskered cheeks. "Yo!" He called out, noticing everybody was staring at him with surprised expressions.

"Naruto! Your face!" Half the people in the guild exclaimed.

"There something wrong with it?" He asked confusedly, rubbing his cheeks.

"NO!" A majority of the girls called out with blushes on their faces.

"Eh, that's okay then," He said walking into the guild and ordering some ramen. He sat down next to Gray who was looking at him curiously.

"Where's the mask? And what's up with your eye?"

"Eh, got to try something different once in a while. My eye got totally wrecked in a fight so I got a new one," he said casually. He saw Erza give him an understanding and sympathetic look, he just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for the other day," he apologised.

"What was on that note anyway?" Gray asked. Naruto hesitated but conceded.

"It was a message for me from somebody who was like a brother to me," Naruto answered unwilling to go any further. He caught a flash of white from the corner of his eye and saw the Strauss siblings approaching him.

"Hey," he greeted. However, he blinked when Mira grabbed his wrist gently and dragged him away. She didn't say anything she just pulled him to the back of the guild.

"Where are they going?" Gray asked Lisanna. Lisanna didn't get to answer as she was interrupted by Natsu and Happy running into the guild.

"WHERE IS NARUTO? I SMELL HIM HERE! I WANT HIM TO FIGHT ME!" Natsu shouted excitedly. Gray rolled his eyes.

"He's outside with Mira, flamebrain,"

"Wat did you call me, stripper?" asked Natsu, getting in his face.

"You heard me candle head!"

"Snowman!"

"Matchstick!"

"Fros-," Natsu started but was smashed on the head by Erza along with Gray

"Stop fighting," she said calmly, crossing her arms. "You wouldn't be able to beat Naruto anyway."

"Hey! I can kick his ass any day!" He shouted. "Right Happy?"

"Aye!" Happy agreed. With that Natsu ran out of the guild.

"Fight me!" He called out, throwing a wild punch at Naruto. Naruto turned around, sidestepped Natsu's punch and delivered a blow to his solar plexus. Natsu flew through the guild wall comically with swirls in his eyes. Happy looked at Naruto and saw he wasn't wearing a mask.

"You have whiskers! Are you a cat too?" Happy asked.

"No," Naruto deadpanned. "Run back to your little friend," Naruto ordered.

"Aye, sir!" Happy saluted and flew into the guild. Naruto just smiled fondly and shook his head.

"He never learns, huh?" Naruto said.

"No, he doesn't, but it's kinda cute," Mira replied with a smirk. "Naruto," she called out.

"I'm sorry," she said looking at the ground and fiddling with her fingers a bit.

"Me too, you had a point…" Naruto started. "I realised that when I nearly died again," He said.

"You nearly died again!?" growled Mira. "Ugh… nevermind. I'm just glad you are okay,"

"But really, I shouldn't have blanked you. It was rude, childish and I'm sorry," she said, swallowing her pride.

"I won't lie and say I'm not pissed. It stung a lot when you flat out ignored me," he said, making Mira look down again. "But you were just showing you cared in your own way. Your awkward, aggressive and scary way, but you cared nonetheless," he said making her scowl and blush a bit.

"What's that supposed to mean, you jerk!" she shouted.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Naruto replied. "Still, it means a lot. I have no idea what you're thinking ever, you confuse me to no end but I like that about you," he admitted.

"But – I'm still pissed at you. Just give me a little time, please? I'll open up soon, but I'm going through a hard time right now," he told her, looking away into the distance.

"Sure, but I want to get to know you better, blondie," she told him.

"Blondie? It's a promotion from flaky," he joked with a grin.

"Well, maybe you're not flaky anymore. The mask made you look like a girl. But with your whiskers and that scar, you could pass for ruggedly handsome," she teased making him blush a bit.

"However, that was thrown out the window when you put on the pink shirt and I realised pink was your colour, flake," She said whilst walking back into the guild.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

**Right, new chapter and all that goodness. I honestly struggled with the fight a bit, but yay! It is one of the first fights that I've shown Naruto winning. Erza was lame so that doesn't count. Although I struggled a bit, I had fun. I'm terrible at conversations and even worse mid fight so I held back on that a bit so if it seems dull im sorry.**

**For the other fic, I have considered all of these weapons, but honestly, I think that they'll look a bit silly with the way Naruto is dressed. His attire will be more like a suit. (I'm deciding whether or not to have him wear a fedora or not when he gets older) Imagine seeing a man in a shirt and possibly a tie swinging around a gunbai. For that reason, I'm going to decide not to go there. I might go with the daggers suggestion. I might also go with the 'phase' magic or runes for his fourth magic)**

**Anyway, in this fic do you want Naruto to have inherited the Tsukiyomi or amaterasu? I was planning on going for tsukiyomi, but honestly, it doesn't matter to me.**

**Thanks for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto stood shirtless in the field silently. He had the Yukianesa in his hand and he was in a battoujutsu stance. He had his eyes closed as he waited. A leaf floated in the line of his sight. He snapped his left eye open and drew his sword so fast it looked like it teleported. He watched with a satisfied gleam in his eyes as the leaf split in two and both sides froze.

To anybody watching that would be the last thing they notice though. They would be more interested in the trees behind the leaf that had been sliced and toppled over

It had been two weeks since his confrontation with Itachi. It was tough on Naruto, but he had mostly gotten over the grieving process. It still hurt but he could only look forward at this point. There was no reason to live in the past – he had dealt with loss before and he could deal with it again.

He was finding it difficult to cope with the fact that he killed Itachi, though. This lead to him acting a bit more like his split personality sometimes. It was suppressed well, but he was acting colder than usual.

Naruto resheathed his sword with a flamboyant flourish. It was a force of habit when he wasn't in a fight. He breathed steadily. "You can come out now," he said calmly. He kept his right eye closed. Even though he could see from it he usually just had it closed anyway. He felt ghost pains from the eye so he decided it was the best course of action.

A sheepish Natsu, Grey and Lisanna revealed themselves as they walked into the field. "Sorry, Naruto," they said in unison, except for Natsu who felt it wise to charge at Naruto with a flaming fist Naruto just poked him in the stomach with his sword's sheath, bringing him to his knees.

"Why were you spying on me?" He said, requipping the top half of his clothes back on. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and his lone blue eye gazed over them with an expectant expression.

"Ahh, we were just… curious?" Gray lied lamely.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered. "Come out, Mira. I know you're still there,"

Mira walked out with the rest of them with a huffy expression. "I was sure I hid my magic signature," she pouted.

"You did," Naruto said and didn't say anything further. Mira was irritated. Even though they had made up, he had been being more distant than ever. He said he would open up, but he hadn't done so yet. They were getting along, but things were a bit strained. Mira was fed up with it. Mira huffed.

"Whatever, I don't have to explain myself to you!"

"No, you don't," Naruto said, walking away. Mira growled in annoyance. Natsu, Lisanna and Grey wisely backed off.

"Bye, Naruto, Mira/Mira-nee!" they said in unison as they scurried away like frightened insects. They only wanted to see Naruto's training for when they were nominated for the S-Class exam, More precisely, Natsu was convinced he was going to be nominated and somehow roped Gray and Lisanna in his ridiculous antics.

Mira got in front of Naruto with her hands on her hips, "What's your problem!?" she demanded. "If I've done something wrong, just tell me!" she asked . She sounded desperate at the end. Naruto looked away into the dodtance.

"It isn't you, Mira. I'm sorry," he apologised, still not looking at her. Mira's gaze softened and she wrapped her arms around her. Feeling the hug Naruto stiffened. He didn't return it, he just stiffened and had wide eyes. Naruto felt weird, he hadn't been hugged in years he forgot the feeling. It felt weird. He didn't notice the pink dusting his cheeks.

Mira smiled in the hug. "You're supposed to return it," she said, making him weakly wrap his hands around her back. "Hm, still needs work," she said breaking the hug.

"Ahh, sorry, I haven't been hugged since I was five," he apologised looking at the ground. Mira stared at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he smiled sadly. "After my parents died, I didn't really receive much outward affection. My shishou was reluctant to show that he cared about me…" _'like somebody else I know,' _he thought, shifting his gaze to Mira. "… because he was dying and didn't want me to get too attached to him, and…" he trailed off thinking of Itachi.

Mira gave him a sympathetic gaze. _'I understand him a little bit better now,' _Mira thought. "Well, we'll have to fix that," she said, giving him a cheeky wink. "But, if there is anything you want to talk about, I'm all ears," she smiled. A rare, small genuine smile. Something about it made Naruto's heart flutter. He closed his eyes.

"Thank you," Naruto hesitated. "But- why were you watching my training?" he asked. Mira blushed and looked away.

"None of your business, goldilocks," she replied hastily.

"But you said I could talk to you about anything…!"

"I never said I would answer," Mira said stubbornly. She walked away without looking back. If Naruto saw her face he would see it was completely red. _'If he doesn't want me to spy on him, he shouldn't train shirtless."_

Naruto tilted his head to the side with a confused expression on his face. _'Girls are weird'_

He shook that thought off and headed to the guild to get a mission.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked to the train with closed eyes. He felt much better after talking to Mira. Maybe he would open up about Itachi, who knows? He liked her softer side, it made him feel warm. He had never felt like that before. Even though he knew Jin cared for him, he didn't show it. It was almost surreal.

Naruto had to assure himself that Jin cared for him; actually being shown it felt nice.

Naruto sighed as he went to his mission. He had to retrieve a sword for a collector. It was being held by some dark guild – and they reportedly had the vanish brothers assisting them. It wasn't an S-class mission so Naruto wasn't particularly worried. The Vanish bothers were idiots – criticise mages for overspecialising in magic and then overspecialise in hand to hand.

Hypocrites.

Naruto shook those thoughts out of his head. It wouldn't do him any good to underestimate anybody. That's how you got yourself killed.

Naruto's eyes snapped open.

He felt a familiar presence. A _very _familiar presence.

He slipped onto the train and walked towards it. He opened the door into the carriage and was greeted by a man walking towards him with a smirk on his face. Slicked back hair, yellow eyes and a narrow face.

Saitou Hajime.

"It's been a while," Naruto stated, stopping in front of the man

"It has, God Leg," Saitou replied smoothly.

"God Leg? People usually go for Ice Fox," Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I think God Leg suits you better,"

"Whatever floats your boat, old man," Naruto waved off.

"Old man? I'm only 31, brat!" He shot back heatedly, getting in Naruto's face. Naruto responded with equal vigor.

"Deny it all you want, wolfy, but the back pains don't lie!"

"I'm young enough to kick your ass!"

"And old enough for your bones to turn into dust in the process,"

Electricity passed through their eyes and they glared. They both relented at the exact same time. Naruto had a grin on his face and Saitou had a smirk. Saitou spoke up, "I've been slacking off, but no more. Next time you won't win, you brat."

"Is that what the elderly do - slack off?" Naruto snorted. Saitou glared. Naruto continued. "Whatever, you say. I'm winning next time – that you can be sure of," he finished.

"Confident brat. I see Kisaragi taught you well," he said. "It is a shame it won't be a fight to the death, but I couldn't kill a student of Kisaragi,"

"Oh, why?"

"That's for me to know… nosy brat," Saitou scowled.

"Tch…whatever," Naruto pouted slightly.

"What's up with that scar?" Saitou asked.

"That's for me to know… nosy old man,"

Saitou growled.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked up to the front door of the client. No surprise, it was a smithing place.

He wisely kept the Yukianesa requipped away lest the owner set his eyes his on it. He chose not to use it today. He really didn't want to deal with hired men trying to take his sword. He walked in to the front counter and rang the bell at the front of the store. He admired the swords that were on display. Broadswords, katana, nodachi, wakizashi, claymores, jian, chokutos and ninja-tos. There was a blade for everybody.

The back door opened to reveal a tall man who was about 6"5 tall. Naruto looked up feeling a few bones in his neck creak. He had long silver hair, closed eyes and a blue tattoo of a star on his left cheek. He was wearing a plain brown T-shirt and a dirty apron. He analysed the boy intently with his shut eyes.

"What can I do for you?" He asked in a surprisingly soft tone.

"Ahh… I'm Naruto Uzumaki S-class mage of Fairy Tail. I'm here for the mission," he explained. He was a bit distracted by the man's voice. It didn't fit him at all.

"That is wonderful! My name is Ken-Ken," he introduced. Naruto found his emotional control lessons extremely helpful here. If he did not have them he probably would have died of laughter right now. "Is there anything I can get for you? Water, green tea, coffee, milk, milkshake, burgers, bacon, ramen, a handkerchief, warm towels… potential killing tools?" he listed. A sweat drop formed on Naruto's head.

"No, could you just give me some information about this mission?" Naruto asked calmly.

"Right, right, the mission, what was that again?" He asked dumbly, scratching his chin. A tic mark formed on Naruto's head.

"You wanted me to retrieve a sword," Naruto stated slowly.

"Ah, yes, thank you lad! The sword, the sword, the sword…" Ken-Ken repeated like he was remembering something.

"The SWORD!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, the sword!" Naruto snapped waving his hands around. "What does it look like…?"

"Hmm… well it is a jian. It is called the kusanagi," he said making Naruto listen much more intently. Ken saw this and raised an eyebrow. "It is an injustice to see it in the hands of such brutes…"

"Well, I'll get it to you," Naruto assured. Naruto stood up and went to rest his hand on the hilt of his sword. He grasped air though as nothing was there and frowned. _'Oh yeah… It is in my requip space.' _Ken-Ken saw this and chuckled. Naruto pouted like a small child and requipped his sakabatou into his belt so he could let his hand lounge on it. He let out a small satisfied sigh.

Ken smiled. "That is good to hear. I just think that such a legendary sword deserves a much more worthy wielder," he chirped.

"I agree," Naruto stated. "It doesn't matter how strong they are. What matter is how they can connect to the heart of a blade," The old blacksmith smiled. Naruto paused. "Still, can you tell me about who has the blade?"

"Yes. They are a dark guild that is called the, the, the…" The m,an paused, stroking his chin.

THE!... bloodied blade. They are an arrogant bunch. They have set up shop just outside of the town and have been terrorising the citizens. The vanish brothers have been sighted around them. I suppose for mercenaries that do not use magic it is hard to get work," The tattooed man mused.

"Alright, I got it. I should take care of them for you as well. Leave it to me old man,"

"Okay, I'll leave it in your capable hands," Ken smiled. He analysed the boy as he walked away. _'The way he walks is the way of an accomplished swordsman,' _he grinned. _'He's definitely an interesting lad.' _

Naruto walked out of the shop, narrowly dodging a brown haired girl with two buns in her hair with a rapid sidestep as she came barrelling through the door. He grinned sheepishly as he loked at her. "Sorry," he said.

She blinked owlishly as he disappeared off the doorstep without a trace. The old man watched with open eyes revealing them to be brown. _'Interesting lad indeed. Fast on his feet," _He smiled at the girl. "Welcome back, Ten-Ten." He said as he noticed she was still looking at the door with a bewildered expression.

"Oh, yeah, sorry I'm late jiji," she muttered. "Who was that?"

"Him?" he wondered. "Who was that? Who was that? Who was that?"

"THAT!... That was a fairy tail mage," he answered holding a finger up in victory.

"Oh," she trailed off.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked towards the dark guild. He had requipped his sakabatou away and opted to use his twin kodachi's instead. He had no idea where the sword was so he decided to go in all guns blazing. He was pretty pumped for this.

The old man was weird, but Naruto really liked him. He wasn't some greesy man like Naruto expected him to be; he just loved swords. Naruto could appreciate that. He was still not gonna flaunt the yukianesa around him. He wasn't stupid.

Naruto glanced at the wall of the guild and a magic seal formed under it, encasing it in ice. He stoically strolled forward and gave the Ice a solid kick, shattering it and the wall. Naruto walked in holding his kodachi lazily to the side of him. He looked around and saw quite a few pissed expressions he smiled softly.

"I heard you were pretty good at what you do," he complimented. "Come at me."

This got a reaction. "Hey! Who do you think you are?" A man scowled. He had purple hair in a pony tail, brown eyes and was wearing some ridiculous looking samurai armour in a black, contrasting with everybody else's gray samurai armour. Contradictory to his armour, he wielded a large broadsword with a red handle. "WE ARE THE BLOODY BLADES!" he shouted gaining cheers. He smirked. "Do you really think you could take us on? Just give yourself up and we won't hurt you… too bad,"

"That is a tempting offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline," he said with a feigned apologetic tone.

"Tch… I gave you a chance. I'll deal with you myself," he said and he charged at Naruto. All the men watched with smirks on his face as Naruto stood there motionless.

"This is the end for you!" he yelled and slashed wildly at Naruto. Naruto stepped back casually and dodged the slash. The purple haired swordsman growled and slashed violently downwards, but Naruto simply held his right kodachi horizontally and pushed up. The man's arm flew up and Naruto stepped forward, swept the man's feet from under him and scoffed.

"You have so many holes in your stance that it is unbelievable," lectured Naruto. The man shook in fear.

"Men! Charge!" He shouted desperately still on the floor. They suddenly charged the blonde and he looked around stoically as he froze the leader without even a glance using his arctic atmosphere magic.

He dodged a couple of slashes as they all came at him at once with his superior footwork. A man rushed to him, slashing at him with a katana. Naruto deflected with his kodachi and stabbed the man in the shoulder, abandoning his left blade as he pivoted on his foot to catch a blade in his hands that was sent at him from behind. He followed up with a non lethal slash with his blade, disabling the man. A circle of men charged at him and he pushed off his feet and completely avoided them as he landed in front of a group that looked startled by his sudden appearance.

He took down four more before they could blink with a running slash. The fifth man deflected it with his jian but as Naruto rebounded he pivoted on his feet and rotated in a circle and planted his knee in the man's gut making him keel over. He backflipped as he noticed a man with a scimitar slashing at him from behind and landed behind him and slashed his back.

Naruto opened his right eye and activated the sharingan, staring a man in the eyes, making him fall unconscious. His right eye shifted around relentlessly, tracking everybody's movements. He dodged some strikes from a man wielding a bo staff and cut it in half with his blade effortlessly. He stared at him and made him collapse. He vanished again appearing beside an unsuspecting man and stabbed him through the hand, leaving the blade. This caused the man to lose his grip on his katana and Naruto plucked it from his hand and stole the sheath from his belt.

Sheathing the sword and getting into a stance as 20 more men ran at him, he disappeared and reappeared behind them and sheathed his sword, holding the sheath behind him and looking in the same direction.

"M-monster!" One of the remaining ten men shivered.

"That's not nice," Naruto chided playfully. He looked around a bit, spotting who he had abandoned his kodachi in and made a mental note to retrieve them later. He spotted the vanish brothers watching from the top floor. He made sure it looked like he didn't notice that they were there.

The remaining 10 men shifted nervously as Naruto took a step forward. Naruto took another. And they flinched. His foot rose off the ground again and as soon as it looked like he took a step, he disappeared.

"Where did he go?" one of the men asked shakily.

"Maybe he retreatred?" one of them blurted out hopefully.

"Not a chance," a voice said from behind them. They looked back nervously and saw a completely unscathed Naruto standing behind them with his right eye closed again. Before they could say anything, they were all encased in ice, except for one man.

Naruto staked closer to him like a predator. The man was frozen in fear. This… monster needed him. Naruto walked in front of him silently and grabbed his neck. He held him up with one freezing cold hand.

"Tell me where the kusanagi is," he threatened.

"I-I don't know!" The man choked out hysterically. Naruto gave him a hard look for about 10 seconds before dropping him on his ass. The frightened man sighed in relief. This kid really bought that he didn't know…

"Don't… fuck with me," Naruto glared.

Maybe not.

"I-I s-swear, I don-," he babbled but his eyes dulled. Naruto stared at him with a sharingan eye flaring.

"Tell me where the kusanagi is," He said

"In the back, bosses office, upstairs…" he replied in a blank voice. Naruto nodded and froze him wordlessly.

He flashed up the stairs, behind the vanish brothers. One of them was bald except for a long ponytail on the bottom of his head. He had 4 tattoos on his face and was wearing a white tunic, black pants, white socks and kung fu shoes. He was wielding a large frying pan.

The other brother was much taller than the other and has star shaped hair. He wore a blue and yellow leather jacked and white pants and boots.

"Why didn't you get involved? Does your job not concern you?" Naruto mocked making them jump and look behind thrm. They spotted Naruto and glared.

"Shut up, mage," the bigger one sneered with a tic mark.

"It was an impressive display for a mage," the smaller one admitted. "However, you can not beat us," he taunted with an inflated ego.

Naruto blinked innocently. "Oh?" he asked. He promptly vanished and appeared behind them with his hands on their shoulders. It looked rather funny as he had to reach up to touch the younger brother's shoulder. "I beg to differ," he whispered playfully.

Their eyes widened and Naruto's expression steeled. He chopped the shorter brother's neck, making him fall unconscious and drop his pan. The larger one blurred away and Naruto pursued him and appeared behind him. The tall brother turned around to kick Naruto but he caught his leg and elbowed his knee with his other arm, breaking it. He promptly froze the vanish brothers and walked off into the office.

He spotted the sword. It was a double bladed Jian. The guard was bronze and had two symmetrical protrusions. It had a green jewel in the centre. Naruto grinned as he picked it up and went to retrieve his kodachi.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto rung the bell of the blacksmith's place. The man walked out and saw Naruto standing there with the sword of kusanagi layed out on the table. The man smiled.

"I see you retrieved it. My greatest thanks, lad," he said, paying Naruto for the mission. 1 million jewels Naruto received.

"It was no problem, old man," he dismissed. "The guild wasn't strong at all so I had no problems with them." He paused. "It was good training," he mused with a hand to his chin.

"Regardless, you did a good job."

"You'll make me blush," Naruto joked. Ken-Ken chuckled and then adopted a serious

expression.

"A sword of this calibre needs a good wielder," He stated making Naruto's eyes widen. "Maybe you should take it…?"

Naruto waved his hands in the air "No, no, no, no, no, I couldn't," he said frantically.

"I think you would make good use of it," he said. Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"I'm more of a katana person myself. Plus… I already own a legendary sword," he stated with a grin. The man just offered him a legendary sword, he felt like he at least could tell him that much.

"Oh, very well," he said a little dejectedly.

"Thanks for the offer," Naruto said genuinely. "I'll come by here again," he grinned foxily.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked through the guild doors, casually dodging a flying beer glass. He flicked the hilt of his sword by habit and Natsu who had been charging at him was hit in the chin and sent into the roof of the guild with his head stuck in it. Everybody laughed at the pink haired dragon slayer.

He gave a salute as he approached the master. "Yo," he called out casually.

"Yo! Naruto good job," Naruto just nodded with a small smile. "I know you just got back and everything, but tomorrow is the Regular meeting for the guild masters. I haven't taken to you one yet. I want to show you off a bit," he said.

Naruto sighed. _'Troublesome old man, I really can't be bothered' he _sighed inwardly. "Whatever, may as well get it over with," he grunted

**Another update. Sorry if it disappointed you. I just felt the need for a little random mission for Naruto for a little cool down period so to speak. There were two life threatening fights pretty much in a row. He needs a break amirite? Any way, there is no better way to display strength than beat up on some fodder. I haven't had much ROFLstomping so I had to indulge my urge.**

**Do you want Naruto to eventually accept the kusanagi? I didn't have him accepting it right away because LBSH he does not need anything that can be considered another powerup for a while since he has just gotten the sharingan and the chains are staying. **

**I don't think the next chapter will be too long. We are nearing another time skip soon. Hope you enjoy the story so far. :)**

**Feel free to review ^_^**


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